


People Like Us

by raidbossmadi



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Chronic Illness, Cults, Drugs, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Past Child Abuse, Polyamory, Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, redemption fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 39,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24004687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raidbossmadi/pseuds/raidbossmadi
Summary: The Calypso twins have a plan and everyone has a part to play in it. When they take another Siren under their wing the intent was always to use her a battery for Troy. However things are not as they seem to be and bigger forces than the Children of the vault are at play and this course of action only sets off a domino effect the likes of which the six galaxies have never seen.
Relationships: Troy Calypso/Original Female Character(s), Typhon Deleon/ Leda, Tyreen Calypso/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 37
Collections: People Like Us





	1. Witch of the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> I have put a lot of love and attention into this fic, I hope you will all enjoy it as much as I enjoy creating it.

Early morning light filtered in from the window, shining down precisely where a lizard-like fox creature happened to be sleeping on the floor. The creature awoken by the warmth hopped to its feet and screeched running around in a circle before rolling on its back in the sun beam. 

“Ugh Persphone, not again.” A pillow was flung off the bed in the direction of the creature who caught it in its mouth and brought it back to where it came from. 

“Why are you always like this?” Sloane asked as she uncurled from her nest of blankets and brushed her messy brown hair out of her face. “It’s way too early for this shit you know.” She sighed looking down at Persphone who wagged her tail and tilted her head expectantly. Sloane followed her into the kitchen blinking in the brightness as she’d forgotten to shut the curtains the night before, at least to her relief there wasn’t anyone peering in through the window. 

“Are you only ever this friendly when you want food? Do I not do enough for you to warrant some love and affection sometimes?” She asked again as she rummaged through the cabinet before finding what she was looking for pouring the food into Persphone’s bowl before pulling out an apple for herself. 

Sloane went back to her room to grab her Echophone, checking the time and seeing it was nine-thirty, too late in the morning to go back to bed if she wanted to be productive today. She pulled her art supply box off the table in the kitchen and called to her pet as she held the front door open then headed out herself. She looked to the woods that surrounded her quiet little house and chose the patch she wanted to paint this morning. She set down her supplies and easel then gestured and a vine wrapped around the stool sitting near the door and dragged it over. 

She watched as the glow of the siren marks on her right arm faded to normal muted blue and went to work. She could really lose herself in her art on days like this when the weather was fair and the sun filtered lazily through the canopy of trees. She was laser focused only looking up from the painting when Persphone hopped into her lap to beg for pets before being set back down by a vine. 

Noticing that it had been several hours now and the painting had come together in a way she liked, she decided to leave it out on the easel to dry in the midday sun. She headed back into the house to make lunch and just as she had finished the sandwich she’d made she noticed a dark figure in the yard. 

“Ugh this _again._ ” She murmured heading out the back door of the house cautiously. The people of Eden-4 had taken the appearance of a Siren on their planet as a sign that they had been blessed by a god and as such they liked to make Sloane’s life difficult. She lived in this clearing not only because it was close to her element but because it was out of the way of the towns and usually meant she didn’t have to worry about being bothered by people who wrongly assumed she wanted their worship. 

She slunk around the side of the house towards the front again, she watched as Persphone yipped and ran in circles around the invader though she kept her distance and Sloane was glad to see that the invader was content to leave her pet alone. Their attention was however on the painting she had left out to dry. 

“Oh god dammit.” She hissed under her breath, her art was usually the focus of the worshippers. They would take it and add it to strange forest shrines that they thought would earn them her blessing, all it really did of course was make her wish she had any other talent. 

“Hey wait!” Sloane reached to grab at the intruder who had swiped her latest painting off the easel but they had already rushed off out of reach. She sighed, they never did like to listen. The tattoos that adorned her right arm began to glow as she reached out with her powers and bent the trees over the path blocking it. 

She approached cautiously, though she had the upper hand here she wasn’t an idiot. “ I don’t want to hurt you.” She said calmly “I didn’t _want_ to have to use my powers at all but you really didn’t leave me any choice. Can I please just have my painting back?” 

“But how can I build a shrine without a blessing from our Siren?” The worshipper cried. Sloane sighed this was _always_ a hassle to deal with but she supposed she really should be used to it by now. 

“Alright, Alright hang on.” She took the painting back from the worshipper and to her side a vine slithered out holding one of her older sketch books. “Here take this, it’s got a lot more than one picture in it.” It was hard to part with any of her work but if they were going to take it she’d prefer they take it on her terms. She released her hold on the trees watching them spring back into place. 

“Thank you, I will tell the others of your generosity!” The worshipper ran back down the path disappearing from sight. 

Now that had been dealt with, Sloane went back inside, sinking into the couch to relax for a minute before returning to her fridge and retrieving the list she had stuck on it with a Skag shaped magnet. “Right, so I guess I can cross deal with crazy fanatic shit off the to do list and get onto the actual important things I need to do today.” 

She grabbed her bag off the counter and headed into town. Thankfully the town was pretty chill so she could have regular interactions with people instead of having to worry someone might start groveling at her feet because they messed up when giving her change, or didn’t have a shirt in her size. She didn’t get what all the fuss was about in the first place, _yes,_ she was a siren but it wasn’t like her power was anything to write home about. She could make plants move, not the biggest deal in the world, but to the people of Eden-4 it seemed like it was. 

The bell above the general store door chimed as she pushed it open. She noticed the store was pretty empty which was strange for this time of day, even the counter was empty of employees. As the door shut behind her a familiar redheaded shopkeeper in an apron came out from the back room. 

“Oh hey Sloane.” 

“Hi Maggie, where is everyone? I don’t think I’ve seen this place so dead well...ever.” 

“Didn’t you see the news, everyones out preparing for the visitors.” Maggie said, pulling out her Echophone seemingly to pull up the news. 

“We’re getting visitors? No one ever visits Eden-4, who are they?“

“The Calypso Twins.” 

Sloane quirked a brow, the name sounding familiar. “Wait wait what? Like the Echonet streamers, with billions of followers? What do they want with this backwoods planet?” 

Maggie set her phone down on the counter and slid it towards her. Sloane looked down at the screen where a video on Echotube waited for her. The thumbnail being a picture of the aforementioned Calypso Twins shrugging at an edited picture of Eden-4. The Title of the video read ‘Our next stop’.

She clicked the play button and Tyreen’s voice filled the shop. “What’s up my brothers and sisters across the six galaxies. God-Queen Tyreen coming to live from the Centurion’s bridge, Troy and I wanted to announce that in a day’s time we’ll be blessing our followers on Eden-4 soooo if you’ve ever wanted to see your God-Queen in person and you’re on Eden-4 it’ll be your lucky day. To the rest of my devoted followers we’ll probably be stopping by your planets soon enough, stay bloodthirsty!” The video cut off after a moment of Tyreen smiling at the camera and making a heart with her hands. 

“You don’t think they’re coming here to look for the vault do you?” Sloane asked her shopping all but forgotten at this point. 

“Dunno, maybe? Tyreen’s a Siren isn’t she, that’s all your ballpark I’m afraid girly. Why are you thinking of handing it over to them if they asked for it?” 

Sloane’s brow furrowed, when she had gained her Siren powers the historical society of Eden-4 had handed over the location of Eden-4’s Vault and key telling her that as a Siren it was her duty to protect it. It had wound up being another responsibility she hadn’t asked for but luckily for her the vault hunters seemed to stick to Pandora and far away from the Eden system. She doubted that many people even knew Eden-4 had a vault and as far as she was concerned the people who did know were more than enough. 

“Yeah I don’t know. I suppose I’ll just have to see what happens. Thanks for your help Maggie. I appreciate it really.” Sloane said heading out the door before it could be pointed out that she didn’t even bother to buy anything. 

When she returned home she sat down at her computer and began to comb the Twin’s Echotube channel, their Let’s Flay streams and any other information she could find on them. She of course had been aware of their existence, it was hard not to if you spent any time at all on the Echonet but Sloane had never been one for streams. However after watching a few of the Twins she found that she maybe should have, Tyreen was charismatic and electric in her personality on top of that she was pretty cute. Troy on the other hand was harder to get a lock on given that he was usually the man behind the camera but from what she could tell about him he was equally as charming as his sister, if not more so and he was quite the looker too. 

What really held her attention though was the fact Tyreen was a Siren, being that there were only six sirens in the universe at a time the chances of meeting another one seemed slim. Sloane was intrigued to see what the other siren knew about what they were. 


	2. Arrival

Eden-4 was a pretty self sustaining planet, it wasn’t home to a huge weapons manufacturer like Eden-6, nor was it a metropolitan super city like Promethea, and at the very least it wasn’t a barren desert hellscape like Pandora. It was just a nice forest planet, with a healthy farming community and one very enthusiastic group of people who took a siren being around _weird_ , a nice planet to live a calm and casual life . However, being a relatively secluded planet meant that off planet visitors weren’t a common occurrence and it meant that the sound of a large space faring vessel entering Eden-4’s atmosphere was enough to startle Sloane awake instantly.

 _“What the fuck_?” She thought,falling out of her bed. _“Oh right the Calypso twins_.” She picked herself off the ground and untangled herself from her blankets tossing them back on the bed. She decided she would show up at the arrival and see what all the fuss was about, normally she wouldn’t get dressed out of her pyjamas until after lunch but this was a special occasion after all. 

She left her house and headed to the city center, as the tree tunnel that hid her house opened up to the sky, she saw a large transport class ship hovering in the upper atmosphere above the city. On its bow even from the height the word ‘Centurion’ was clearly visible in white lettering. It was an impressive ship though she supposed she should expect no less from the leaders of the Children of the Vault. 

Sloane had decided she didn’t want to get too close to this arrival, if the Twins we’re here for the vault she would be a prime target. However, she couldn’t miss an event like visitors coming to Eden-4 so instead she came as close to the spaceport as she felt comfortable, seeing the crowd amassing and she slipped over to a tree having it scoop her up in its branches and carry her aloft to a nice vantage point.

She watched as a smaller drop ship landed at the spaceport, within minutes the doors to the ship opened and out stepped two figures, the girl was short yet stocky, she wore the same jacket cloak and high collared shirt she had in the videos. This was obviously Tyreen. Following behind her was a man, tall and lanky, he had the same sharp features as she did though his hair was black in contrast with Tyreens white. The most noticeable feature about him though was his large mechanical right arm that appeared to be made from scrap metal and barely cobbled together, both of the twins were far more intimidating in person than they were on film. 

“Helloooo Eden-4! The twin gods have arrived!” Tyreen exclaimed in the same boisterous voice Sloane had heard in the videos. There was something almost predatory in the way the twins looked at the crowd of people before flicking to the horizon and though she knew there was no way that she could be seen from here she found herself ducking into the leaves of the branch and ultimately climbing out of the tree all together. 

Perhaps they were after vault after all and that would put her on their radar sooner or later. She would prefer to be ready when it did. 

***

“Quite the crowd we pulled in, eh Sis?” Troy remarked as he set his luggage down on the hotel bed.

“We always do, don't we?.” Tyreen was sat on her bed across the room looking down at her echophone scrolling through the files on the Siren that inhabited this planet and the history of the vault.

“I can’t believe the historical society just handed over those files like it was nothing. Like I know we’re a big deal and all but you’d think they’d have a little more loyalty to one of their own.” She mused as she noted just how much information was on the file; a comprehensive history of the girl's life. Not that she had done anything of note as far as Tyreen could see, just an artist who happened to be a Siren, her abilities seemed to be plant based and Tyreen was sure it would be easy enough to convince her to do what they wanted. While the Siren was the first one to be born on this planet the vault of course had been here much longer but as it stood now, the only way to get to the vault was through the Siren as they had been smart enough not to include the location of the vault key, only that she knew where it was. 

“Think she’ll be trouble?” Troy asked as he took a seat next to her. “Kinda surprised it has taken this long to run into another siren.” 

“I’m not, there’s only six of us Troy and we’ve been purposely avoiding falling under the Firehawks attention on Pandora so you know it’s not like we’re begging for another Siren to notice us.” Tyreen yawned seemingly less concerned with matter than her brother was. 

“Uh yeah I know, I’m just saying. Think you’re gonna have to like I dunno fight her?” 

Tyreen finally put down her phone looking at her twin with an annoyed stare. “I will if she gets in my way, otherwise I really don’t see the point.” 

Troy nodded and opted to stop pestering his sister for the moment, she was obviously tired and it was best to leave her alone. Besides in the morning they had a siren to hunt. 

***

It was easy to fall back into the rhythm of tending to the things around her little spot of woods like the Calypso Twins had never even set foot on the planet. Sloane was sure that they couldn’t be looking for her and that surely no one would tell them that she was the only one who knew where the vault key was _would they?_

She was out on the backside of her house hanging her laundry out to dry when she heard the sound of someone approaching the house from the front. 

“ _That’s strange.”_ She thought. She wasn’t expecting guests as she walked back into the house. Warily she opened the front door to find herself face to face with Tyreen Calypso. Her first thought being “ _Wow she’s shorter than she looks on camera.”_ Luckily she had the sense not to blurt that out. Especially once she noted that the look in the other sirens eyes seemed particularly malicious. 

“Uh hi, Can I help you with something?” Sloane asked cautiously and stepped back from the door. She felt intimidated even though the other woman had done nothing as of yet, but in reaction to the rush of fear she felt her siren marks began to glow a faint blue. 

“Ah, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,doll. You should just relax.” Troy’s smooth voice rang out from behind her and she quickly felt the cold metal of his cybernetic hand close around her wrist. Of course, she had forgotten to lock the back door after she’d come in to investigate the knocking. “We’d hate for anyone to get hurt.”

Sloane squirmed in his grasp, though it was a futile effort, there was no way she could safely get out of this.

“You can let her go Troy, I think she understands it’s easier to comply.” Tyreen said. Sloane felt her wrists sting as the metallic hand released its hold on her. 

She straightened up and felt like a deer cornered by wolves as she looked between the Calypso Twins. She hated that they had managed to muscle into her own home and make it seem like _they_ owned the place. This realization gave her a streak of boldness that she opted to run with. 

“You two can stop with the theatrics, I don’t see a camera anywhere so I assume you’re not filming this; if I’m wrong about it and you are with how the both of you are acting I’ll assume it’s not live and you’re planning to edit out whatever you don’t like.” She said as her eyes scanned the room one more time not seeing anything out of the ordinary “So why don’t you tell me why you two are in my house? Otherwise I’ll politely ask you to _leave._ ” 

“Oh this one is _sassy,_ Ty.” Troy remarked though Tyreen shrugged it off. 

“We got intel that says you know where the vault key is and given that you know that I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you know where the vault itself is. Now I’m sure you’re already aware that the vaults are _very_ important to my brother and I. So why don’t you make this easy on all of us and tell us where they are?” Tyreen demanded. Though the other woman was about the same height as Sloane was her mannerisms and speech made her seem all the more imposing. 

“And if I don’t?” Sloane shuddered as the metallic hand caressed her cheek and caught her under the chin tilting her head to look back at Troy and she caught a glimpse of a large sword that sat sheathed on his back. 

“Be a shame to add a face as pretty as yours to the trophy gallery, but heretics don’t get mercy you know.” Troy smirked and his metal fangs glinted in the light and Sloane all the more felt like she was helpless in this situation, the Calypsos had her exactly where they wanted her. 

“You two can stop with the threats really, and I mean why assume I’m a heretic when all I’m doing is asking questions? I’m more than willing to help you, this whole guarding the vault key from outsiders responsibility has never really been my thing. Plus it’s like c’mon how am I supposed to judge who's ‘worthy’ to open the vault I’m just one woman but to be fair the two of you seem like the most prepared and knowledgeable people I’ve come across asking about it so might as well hand it over right? You are the Children of the Vault after all, I can’t think of anyone more suited for the job.” Sloane was stress rambling a little bit even though the rational part of herself told her that she was of more use to the twins alive despite the obvious posturing they were doing. 

The twins looked at each other, clearly not expecting her to so easily give them what they wanted. Tyreen shrugged and smirked as she looked back at the other siren. 

“Yeah? Well go one then. I’m sure you’ve got _terms_ before you take us to the vault, we can make this a business deal. I’m feeling nice today.” Tyreen crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, everyone had a price and seeing as the other siren hadn’t seemed to be a threat she was willing to pay that price, within reason of course. Besides she hadn’t decided if she was going to kill the other woman yet. 

Sloane blinked a few times; she hadn’t been expecting Tyreen to offer her anything other than not killing her as payment for what the twins wanted. She thought for a long moment before meeting Tyreen’s gaze again. 

“I want to get off this planet, half of the people here treat me like I’m something to be worshipped and treated with reverence but I’m just a person. I’m not like the two of you, I have no plans to build a following or be a god and when the Vault is opened well I don’t need to be here to protect it now do I? I won’t be a bother, I’ll even be your new ship janitor if that’s what you want. I just want to get away from here, I’m tired of being stuck on this stupid planet.” Sloane ran a hand through her hair nervously, she hoped she wasn’t asking for too much. 

Tyreen looked to Troy and raised a brow, the twins seemed to have a silent conversation in the moments that passed before they both looked back to Sloane. 

“That’s all you want?” Tyreen asked, resting a hand on her hip. “You want a way off this planet. So much so you’re willing to serve us.” She seemed puzzled by the fact that Sloane seemed so easy to win over yet the desire to leave the confines of one’s planet was one Tyreen could sympathize with. 

“Uh yeah?” Sloane was puzzled. Was it really that hard to believe? Had they really been expecting her to make some kind of extravagant request of them. 

“Well it’s not the strangest request we’ve ever gotten. We’ll give you time to pack your things then come back for the Vault key, how does two days sound?” Tyreen nodded toward the door and Troy finally stepped around to join his sister, the taller of the twins looked Sloane up and down before flashing a smirk again. 

“We’ll be in touch, don’t go get cold feet and run off either. Tyreen’s not a big fan of the chase.” He said as Tyreen gave a snort and nudged him with her shoulder, then as quickly as they had come in they were gone leaving Sloane still a bit stunned as she processed all that had happened. She checked her phone, the entire exchange had only taken about twenty minutes though it had felt like the three of them had been locked in the tense negotiations for hours. 

So this was really happening. She was _really_ about to leave the forest that had been her home for twenty-three years. It had protected her just as much as she protected it, though in recent years it had felt more like the forest was keeping her from truly enjoying her life. The canopy that blotted out the stars feeling more like a cage than protective barrier to keep the outside world away from her. 

She slid down onto her couch, Persphone crawling out from the bedroom where she had hid while the twins had been present and climbing onto Sloane’s lap. Her fingers ran through the lizard fox’s fur as she processed what she would have to prepare for. 


	3. Into The Vault

“So what’s the plan Ty? Are we really gonna take her in as a janitor?” Troy asked as he snuffed out the butt of a blunt into the balcony’s ashtray. Tyreen hadn’t said much once they’d gotten back to the hotel and he was curious as to what she was thinking.

“Don’t you think that’s an insult to the maintenance crew. You know they’d take it as the God-Queen thinks we aren’t doing good enough so she sent in a siren” Tyreen pitched her voice up as she did her impression of the maintenance staff. “Besides that’s a waste of a Siren. Imagine how much more influence we could get if we had another siren on our side, under our control. We could get her to do things the war meat can’t.” 

“Yeah, I can put a good spin on that. The twin gods in their infinite mercy take in a poor stray Siren. People oughta love it, plus like we haven’t brought someone into the inner circle since Iris and that was what...three years ago now, I’m sure she’d like a friend who's quieter than Mouthpiece.” Troy said pulling out his echophone to write a note to himself. “We’re really doing this then? Can’t take it back once we approach her, you know that Ty.” 

“We’re _really_ doing this, something about it just feels I dunno...right in a weird way.” Tyreen couldn’t put into words the almost magnetic feeling that drew her to the other siren and she supposed that it was a siren thing, one of the many for which there were no words to explain. She only hoped that what little siren power Troy possessed made him feel the same way. 

Part of Tyreen also wondered if perhaps taking in Sloane could solve another issue of theirs, of course she knew Troy could take energy from her, he had been reliant on her for as long as she could remember but what if he could feed on another siren? That way she could get by without having to spread herself so thin looking for enough to leech to sustain them both. It was an interesting prospect that she was willing to experiment with. 

“I’ll send word back to the ship, tell the circle what we’re planning. Better to have everyone prepared for a new family member.” Troy remarked closing the balcony door behind him as he reentered the hotel room, now that they had a solid plan it was time to get the preparations in full swing. 

***

When the twins made their return to Sloanes house they found the other siren waiting for them in the front lawn, sat at her easel painting the tree tunnel they had emerged from. A vine pulled out of the house window a mug curled in its tendril as it came to her side and she plucked the cup from it. 

“And here I was worried the two of you were having second thoughts.” She remarked standing up from her seat as they approached. It was late afternoon and while the twins hadn’t specified _when_ they’d be arriving to make their deal she had almost expected it to be early so that they could just get it out of the way. 

“Such little faith, gods _always_ keep their word doll.” Troy said with a smirk before deferring to Tyreen. 

“We’ve decided to agree to your terms Sloane, we will take you into our family and you will serve us in exchange for freedom from this planet. Provided of course that you take us to the Vault and hand over the vault key.” Tyreen crossed her arms, she was short in stature but her voice and overall demeanor projected the will and intent of her title. Sloane had seen the streams she knew this woman was dangerous and not to be underestimated yet she felt no fear in cooperating with her. 

“I assume you want to be taken to the vault key now then?” She asked as she checked the time, they could make it there before the forest got too dark but it would be nightfall by the time they made it to the vault itself. “It’s a bit of a walk from here.” 

“Lead the way.” Tyreen said the pair flanking Sloane on either side as they disappeared into the wilds of Eden-4. As they walked Sloane finally got a good look at Troy now that he wasn’t trying to physically intimidate her, she noted the red looping patterns on his left arm that crept up to under his left eye and the similarities they had to her and Tyreen’s siren markings, but male sirens weren’t possible were they? 

“You’re a siren?” She asked her voice barely above a whisper as if she was afraid to make the accusation and be wrong. 

Troy opened his mouth to answer but quickly looked over to Tyreen his expression twisting into a slight frown. Sloane was starting to see a pattern in which Troy seemed to not be allowed to voice specific details without some kind of permission from his sister. 

“Not a siren.” He said in a much more subdued tone than she had expected from him “Just a side effect of being born with one.” 

Sloane could tell there was much more to that then he was letting on but it was obvious that she wouldn’t be getting more than that out of him at least not now. The twins put so much of themselves on display that the fact that they had secrets at all had seemed absurd up until this moment, granted as far as she knew this was still part of that display. She decided she would ask no more questions out of a partial fear of asking the wrong one and Tyreen changing her mind about her usefulness. 

They stopped as the path ended abruptly at the rocky base of a cliff, face of which was overgrown with vines and other vegetation. Before either twin could ask why they had stopped Sloane reached towards the cliff her siren markings flared with bright blue light as the vines peeled away to reveal an intricate pattern of Eridian writing that surrounded a small hole in the formation too clean to be natural. 

“What’s it say Troy?” Tyreen asked as she gestured at the writing. He squinted at it his brow furrowed in concentration as he looked over the carvings. 

“It’s a warning.” He stated. “About what would happen if the Vault was opened. Open the Vault of the Aggressor and fire and destruction will follow; says the planet would be scoured to ash the likes of which no one has seen before.” 

“Well that sure sounds inviting, but nothing we can’t handle.” Tyreen remarked, seeming totally unmoved by the threat of whatever danger lurked inside the Vault.

Sloane however was a little unnerved by the promises of the planet burning even if she did plan to leave it behind by the end of this. She still had her obligations to the Calypsos though so she stuck her hand into the carved hole in the rock, her fingers closing around the object hidden within. Despite it being surrounded by cold rock on all sides it radiated a perpetual warmth that confirmed it was what she was looking for. 

“One vault key, just as you requested God-Queen.” She said presenting it to Tyreen. It was a perfect cube of stone with smaller square channels cut into the sides, it was an unassuming thing considering what it opened. 

Tyreen regarded the cube as if it were a precious gem. She took it from Sloane and turned it over in her gloved hand holding it up in the fading light. “So is the vault far then?” 

“No, it’s a brisk walk from here. Shall I take you there?” Sloane asked, hiding the brief hesitation in her voice. It was all so real now, she had only been out to the vault a few times before each to check for meddling. It was all becoming very real now, she never thought she would have to worry about the vault being opened and yet here she was leading the charge to open it. 

The entrance to the vault was an unassuming thing, Sloane was pretty sure that was why no one who wasn’t directly looking for it had ever found it. It was a cave situated behind a large waterfall which, while beautiful to look at, threatened to sweep away those who ventured to close. Luckily Sloane knew the way to approach and avoid any of the danger and the roar of the water was only a distant hum now that they were inside the cave. 

Guardian constructs that usually would have rushed to challenge those stupid enough to dare try approaching the Vault were instead destroyed, bound to the ground and sides of cave by thick overgrown vines. Sloane had dispatched them in a fit of fear and desperation when she had first approached the vault years ago now but not before she had learned the hard way that they were dangerous. The vault arch stood in the center of the chamber that had stretched out before them. 

“Get your cam-bot ready Troy, it’s showtime.” Tyreen said walking towards the arch with the vault key in hand. 

Sloane watched the male twin reach over and press the shoulder of his cybernetic arm a cam-drone deploying from it. She was impressed with how clever a design choice that was as she watched the bot follow after Tyreen. 

“Alright Eden-4, let's see what you’ve been hiding for all these years.” Tyreen cooed as she stuck the stone cube into the pedestal before the archway. 

The vault entrance shimmered into existence and no sooner had it opened when a large clawed forelimb shot out from the dimensional gap followed immediately after by a second limb. A large snake like head joined the collection of body parts and as the rest of the creature emerged from the vault Sloane muttered the only word she felt properly described the creature standing before them. 

“Dr-dragon, That’s a dragon!” 

Troy’s prosthetic arm grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her out of the way as a column of flame erupted from the monster's mouth towards them. 

Tyreen however was ready and a crackling purple orb slammed into the monster’s side drawing its attention away from them and toward her. 

Sloane watched as Tyreen baited the monster around the chamber somehow always managing to slip away before claws or teeth could get close to her. It was like a dance and watching both of them put Sloane into a bit of a trance like state what was only broken when the monster, thrown into the wall close to herself and Troy by the blast from the other siren. Yellow slitted eyes focused on the two and the monsters fanged mouth opened in anticipation. 

Before the creature could strike however thick vines from the surrounding cave walls sprang to life as Sloane reached out with her powers and they coiled around the monsters neck dragging it back to the center of the room and tying it down to the floor. It was a struggle to hold the creature down, Sloane had never used her powers on anything this large before, she tended to be defensive with them. The creature of course was more powerful than anything she had encountered before. 

Tyreen seemed to get the message and hurried over to the felled monster which shrieked and pulled against its bindings harder than before as Tyreen’s power, now brilliant red chains of energy hooked into it and drained the very life out of it, leaving only a stone and eridium husk.

“Annnd cut.” Tyreen called, the cam-bot whizzed back to its master and slotted back into his arm. Sloane fell to her knees panting, she felt overextended and exhausted . 

“Hey, You alright?” Troy asked, the concern caught her off guard as she figured they didn’t care about her well-being after all she was a means to an end to them and they had gotten what they wanted, as far as she knew they could easily leave her dead for being foolish enough to have trusted them at all. 

“I’ll be fine, I just need to catch my breath.You...You’re bleeding. ” She responded, a glint of concern in her eyes in kind as she noticed blood trickling down Troy’s arm, it seemed he’d been grazed by a rock kicked up by the creature. 

Troy’s eyes widened in surprise as he followed her gaze, his metal hand coming up to cover the wound. “Ty, need a hand here!” He called over to his twin who was still staring at her kill with a look of satisfaction. 

Tyreen sighed as she hurried back over to them. “Aye manito you need to be more careful, what would do without me.” She chastised taking his hand in hers, he gave a short ‘heh’ at her words but otherwise seemed unphased . Their siren markings flared in response to contact and the wound on Troy’s arm closed, it would seem that perhaps his markings, whatever they were, were not as inert as Sloane had been led to believe hours before. 

“You sure you’re alright? There’s plenty of Eridium around if you need a boost.” Tyreen asked her attention squarely on Sloane now that Troy had been patched up. 

Sloane picked herself off the ground and gave herself a once over. “No, no I’m fine really. I just well, wasn’t expecting to have to deal with something like _that.”_

“Yeah vault monsters are nasty business, it gets easier the more you deal with though!” Tyreen was _oddly_ chipper about the prospects of fighting more of these monsters.

“Can’t wait you have a look through that footage, bet you I can make some _killer_ edits Ty.” Troy too was very energetic now, both Calypsos seemingly buzzing with excitement. 

“Right, thanks for your generous contributions Sloane. Troy and I will escort you back to your house, you can make sure you have everything you want and our crew will come and grab you first thing in the morning.” Tyreen explained as they made their way out the vault cave back into the cool night air of Eden-4. 

Sloane still couldn’t believe this was _actually_ happening, it seemed so fantastic and out there that she was sure if she were to tell anyone else they wouldn’t believe her. After all, she felt she wasn’t anyone special outside of being one of six sirens which when compared to what she knew of the other sirens her powers weren’t even that impressive. Yet she had earned the company of the two most influential people this side of the six galaxies. 

It felt like a dream as she stood at her front door the twins behind her seeing her off safely. 

“See you tomorrow, welcome to the family.” Tyreen said as she turned to walk away Troy following after. Sloane watched them disappear down the tree tunnel again as she had the first time they’d come. 

She walked into her house, the essentials of her life packed into two large suitcases ready to leave come morning. She took one last look from the doorway, knowing this would be the last time she ever walked back into this place as home. 


	4. Leaving Eden

When the twins had mentioned sending a crew to pick her up the following morning what Sloane hadn’t been expecting was that they’d send their own personal bodyguard along with what appeared to be two high ranking cultists, judging by the robes they wore obscuring their faces and making them seem that much more mysterious. 

“Sloane, I presume.” The taller of the two hooded figures asked after a good few minutes of Sloane staring at them from her doorway.

“Uh...yeah, yeah that’s me. Sorry, I guess I was expecting something a little less conspicuous?” She found herself having a hard time stringing together words. Mostly because she was rather stunned at just how big the man in her yard was. She had seen the man known as Mouthpiece in the twins videos but only ever beside Tyreen or by himself and Tyreen by virtue of being short like Sloane made everyone look huge in comparison, but no he was just huge generally. 

“I think you will find with the twin gods most things are very conspicuous,child.” The hooded figure offered a hand to take one of her bags, and Sloane handed it over. 

“So I know the big guy over there is Mouthpiece but who are you two?” Sloane asked picking up the last of her bags and letting Persephone hop onto her shoulder. 

“I am High Priestess Jaxon and my compatriot, High Priest Helios. We are the shepherds of the Twin Gods devoted and we are blessed to serve you as well, sister.” 

It was easy to forget the religious aspect of the Children of the Vault as an outsider especially given that Tyreen and Troy’s presentation didn’t scream of holy or divine leanings, they dressed and acted like normal people. 

As they made it to the spaceport Sloane felt a bit of anxiousness settle into the pit of her stomach. She had never been to space, was getting in a spaceship scary? She hoped it was just like getting in a car that just happened to fly and could travel at lightspeed. 

“Come along, the God-Queen will not be pleased with us if we run behind schedule.” Helios said giving her a nudge as she had slowed down her pace. 

“Right, sorry. It’s just a lot to process.” She gave a nervous smile but made sure to keep up with her entourage as they approached the loading deck for the dropship. It was small and compact and at first she wasn’t entirely sure all four of them would fit in it. 

Sloane filed in sitting down between the two priests before Mouthpiece ducked in and proved that _yes_ they could in fact all fit. She pulled down the seat belt, secured Persphone in her lap, and dug her nails into the armrest of the chair as the door to the cabin clicked shut.

A holographic image of the ship above them flickered into existence in the center of the pod. Jaxon reached over and put in a series of inputs before the words ‘clear for reentry’ appeared over the ship and the pod engines began humming as they warmed up. 

“It’ll be over before you know it.” Sloane reassured herself quietly as the pod pitched upward and rumbled. She closed her eyes reigning in the desire to scream as the fear that they would burn up in the atmosphere hit her. After what felt like a long time the pod jostled to a stop the engines dying back down. 

The doors gave a pneumatic hiss as they opened to a red tinted room, and Sloane shook off the dazed feeling that overtook her as she rose then followed the entourage out of the pod. They had stepped out into a large engineering bay, a klaxon blaring as the red light flashed again and Sloane watched as a large mechanism picked up the dropship and slid it into a storage compartment beside many others. 

“Clearance please!” A woman in engineer’s coveralls declared as she approached the group. 

“For fucksake Lydia, who else is going to be dragging around Mouthpiece and the Twin God’s new favored.” Jaxon hissed yet nonetheless pulled an ID card from her robe. 

“Just doing my job Jaxon, I’ll send word to the God-Queen you’ve made it back, she should be in the Cathedral.” Lydia remarked.

The Priestess made a disapproving noise as they walked past. “Mouthpiece, take Sloane’s bags to the Twin God’s quarters. We will deliver her to the God-Queen.” 

Outside of the engineering bay the ship opened up to large spacious hallways that reminded Sloane more of a city street than a hall. Though she supposed the Calypso’s flagship _was_ meant to be a floating town. There was signage that pointed to where food and living spaces were located as well as the ship's medical bay. She had worried that the ship would feel claustrophobic so she was glad that fear had been dispelled quickly, though it was apparent that the ship was in a period of downtime as the halls were sparsely populated save for a few people that appeared to be lower ranking members of the twins clergy. 

They came to a large set of double doors spray painted with ‘Like, Follow, and Obey’ across the top along with the inverted vault symbol that was the CoV’s calling card. Jaxon and Helios pushed the doors open then gestured for Sloane to come in. 

“The God-Queen is expecting you.” 

Sloane walked into the chamber and heard the doors click shut behind her. The lights in the room were dim but she could make out rows of pews forming aisles that she stood in the center of, the main source of illumination was a spot light over a dais at the end of the room. Perched on the dais where two thrones, though for the moment only one was occupied. Tyreen has never looked more the part of God-Queen in the time that Sloane had been around her, her ice blue eyes trained on the other siren as Sloane made her way to the base of the dais. 

“Well look who made it.” Tyreen rose from her seat a smirk creeping up her face. “I hope you found the priest escort welcoming.” 

Sloane watched as Tyreen walked down the steps towards her, her gait still smooth and predatory. “I did, and I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen of the ship so far too.” 

“Thanks, you should let Troy know. This ship is his _baby_ , and I don’t think he gets enough credit for it.” Tyreen was standing in front of her now, ice blue eyes locked on hers. “So, you’ve decided to join the Children of the Vault, to pledge yourself to Troy and I in return for freedom. Now there’s some rules that come with joining our family, I think you’ll find they’re all very fair. I am a just God after all.” 

Sloane swallowed nervously, though she knew Tyreen wasn’t about to hurt her; this was _her_ stage, she was entirely in control of the situation. 

“Here’s the deal, we can’t have you appearing as a threat to our reign or anything like that. So the narrative Troy’s spinning is that you’re _our_ Siren, a stray we took in out of the kindness of our hearts, you belong to us. We’ll say you’re blessing to tip the scales in our favor, after all one more Siren on my side means one less Siren for the Crimson Raiders to have access to. ”

“Ok, so what does belonging to you entail? Am I going to have to humiliate myself by walking around completely nude do I? Cos I am _super_ not about doing that.” 

“What? No, you’ll get looked after by Troy and I,have all your needs attended to, just _one_ tiiiiny little catch.” Tyreen reached into her pocket and pulled out a leather collar not unlike the one she was wearing right now and spun it idly on her finger. “You belong to us so I’m keeping you in arms reach ” 

Oddly enough Tyreen seemed nervous as she tried to assure Sloane that there was nothing sketchy going on here. Though her assurances _did_ make Sloane feel better about it all, after all who wouldn’t want two of the most powerful people in the universe to spoil them and not expect anything but loyalty in return. 

“ I’ll do what you and Troy want, be whatever you want me to be,I promise.” Sloane teased, sticking her tongue out at the last bit. 

“ Like you have a choice now anyway right?” Tyreen gave a small smirk before she reached around Sloane’s neck and affixed the collar around it. “Not too tight?” 

Sloane shook her head as she adjusted to the feel of it around her neck. Granted she had known that joining the Calypso’s was likely to come with some sort of price she just hadn’t expected anything like this. 

“Cool, now I think you’ll agree, it’s been a bit of a hectic day. Probably more so for you than myself, so why don’t we head up to my room and get some sleep?” Tyreen suggested, a small yawn punctuated the end of her sentence. 

“I’m sleeping with you? Like you aren’t worried I’ll try to kill you?” Sloane asked, a bit surprised by this, especially given how tight the twins security had been so far. 

“Yeah of course you’re sleeping with me, it’s how you socialize someone into feeling comfortable around you right? Besides _honey,_ if you try anything I’ll just turn you into another statue for my collection.” There was a loneliness that flashed in Tyreen’s eyes that made her words seem like an empty threat, she didn’t want to do that, not really. “Troy will want a word with you too, but he’s already turned in for the night and it’s best not to bother him.” 

Tyreen motioned for Sloane to follow and lead her behind the thrones where a door stood at the back of the dias leading to a stairway. At the top they came out to a more homely looking part of the ship and walked toward a hallway with a hand scanner at the door. 

“We’ll get your biometrics added to the system in the morning, I don’t expect you to go anywhere without one of us for a while but it saves me the trouble.” Tyreen said as the double doors slid open revealing a small wing of the ship. There were four doors, two on each side of the hallway, each emblazoned with a symbol in the center of the door. The two on the left had a game controller and flower, while the right had Troy’s dual skulls and snake emblem and the last had a skull wearing a crown. Tyreen approached this door and again placed her hand on the scanner. 

“C’mon in.” 

Sloane walked into the room, which lit up as Tyreen walked in it was a fairly neat room with a small living and kitchenette in the main area, there was a desk in one corner of the room that seemed to be Tyreen’s brainstorming station as papers were all over it and the wall behind it. Next to the desk was a door that was currently ajar and Sloane could see that it was the bedroom, she followed Tyreen in and discovered that her bags were waiting for her in a neat stack at the foot of a bed that was _easily_ big enough to fit three people. Tyreen walked into the connected bathroom pajamas in hand, Sloane used the opportunity to dig through her bags for her own trading places with the God-Queen and then getting settled in the bed. 

She was a little nervous given that she had never shared a bed in any context before now. But as she climbed under the covers the warmth of the bed was enough to quiet any reservations she might have plus the bed was so large that Tyreen might as well not even be in it. It wasn’t long before Tyreen’s slow even breathing filled the Sloane needed as her eyes began to flutter shut marking the close of the first day of her new life. 


	5. Settling In

Sloane awoke slightly surprised to be in a strange bed before she remembered where she was, that this was home now. Tyreen was notably absent though the sounds of the television coming from the other room was enough of a reassurance that the other siren was still close by. 

She walked into the living room and found that Troy was sitting on the sofa scrolling through his echo-feed. She noted that he looked a little rough around the edges, well _rougher,_ but he didn’t seem like a morning person to her anyway. Tyreen on the other hand clearly was, as she was in the kitchenette working away on breakfast. 

“Morning Sloane, glad you decided to take us up on our offer. We were _a little_ worried you just might decide to dash.” Troy purred as he set down his echophone to give her his full attention. “ C’mon sit down, Ty’ll be done with breakfast in a second and we can go over the plans for today.” He patted the cushion next to him and smiled, his augmented canine teeth glinted as they caught the light making the smile seem more like a warning than a welcome. 

“Thank you, Troy...err...Father Troy…I um, how do you two _want_ me to address you?” Sloane squeaked as she slid into the spot on the couch next to Troy. 

“Just Troy and Tyreen are fine at least in private. You’re not one of the followers out there. You’re here with _us_.” The way he spoke about their followers made it seem like he sorted people into two groups, the people like them and the outsiders. Sloane was just pleased to find herself included in the us. 

Tyreen finally stepped out of the kitchen carrying a tray with breakfast and coffee on it. Sloane noticed that two cups were marked with a specific symbol on each, one with the crown design that was painted on Tyreens door and the other the now familiar twin snakes that decorated all of Troy’s things, the other of course was just a blank mug. 

“I’ll have your mug customized once Troy designs you an insignia, we all have one it just makes life easier when you're doing the dishes and laundry and whatever else needs doing around here.” Tyreen remarked, taking a seat on the other side of Troy. 

Sloane glanced at the plate that sat in front of her, a waffle and some eggs. She had been slightly nervous that the self styled twin gods would only be fond of eating foods she’d never heard of but the simplicity of the food in front of her put her at ease. 

“You read the report about the fancy new tech Maliwan put out?” Tyreen asked her twin. Sloane noticed that while Tyreen was drinking coffee she notably was _not_ eating anything. She filed that away under an ever growing list of questions she had towards the twins. 

“Yeah, looks like some quality stuff, I’d like to get my hands on a gun and take it apart, see if I can’t learn anything.” 

“You like engineering then?” Sloane asked as she recalled what Tyreen had said about the ship being Troy’s baby.

Troy turned to look at her and quirked a brow pointing to his prosthetic arm. “Built this myself, and before we picked up the crew I did all the work on the old Centurion here. Still like to fix her up, so yeah it’s a bit of a hobby of mine.” 

She blushed feeling a bit embarrassed, she supposed that should have been more obvious. At least she knew a little more about him now though, she could start to read Tyreen but Troy was harder to get through to and not just because she’d spent less time around him compared to Tyreen so far. Both the twins were guarded but in different ways, neither of which seemed easy to crack. 

“I’m gonna go take care of those things you wanted me to before the stream tonight Ty.” Troy stood and began to make his way out of the room before he remembered something and stuck his mechanical hand over the couch in Sloane’s direction. 

“Give me your phone, gonna set you up with one of ours. Gotta monitor your activity and all to make sure you’re not sending unauthorized messages to anyone.” He demanded. She fumbled with her pocket for a moment before producing the phone and placing it in his hand. She almost expected him to crush it in his palm but instead he merely snorted as he looked it over before he left without another word. 

“Right so while Troy’s off doing his chores, I need to head up to talk to some of the crew. I’ve arranged for the high priests to show you around the ship in the meantime. You’ll be meeting up with me on the bridge to take care of those biometrics after that.” Tyreen explained as she disappeared back into her bedroom to change into her usual attire. 

Sloane finished her breakfast in the silence of the now empty room before a knock at the door interrupted the calm. She found Jaxon and Helios waiting just as Tyreen had said. 

“Good morning Sister Sloane. We hope your first night aboard the Centurion was a restful one. Come along and we will show you the important places aboard the ship.” Jaxon said motioning for Sloane to follow. 

“As I’m sure you’re aware this is the Centurion’s second level, we’re just leaving the Twin Gods private wing and moving into the second floor common space.” 

Sloane stepped through the doorway partitioning off the twins wing from the next area of the ship. The halls of the ship were a bit more busy now, with more of the hooded priests milling about though they quickly tried to look busy as the High Priests passed their way. 

“The Bridge is located straight ahead, but you aren’t due until later this afternoon. This way to the lift, we have a lot of ground cover.” Jaxon gestured in the direction of the lift the three of them heading down to the lower level. 

The tour was largely uneventful in Sloane’s opinion, they showed her the bar and the meeting space she had been brought into upon her arrival to the ship. The Priests had advised it was better to leave the engineers to their work so simply showed her the engine room from the viewing gallery. By the time they had made it back upstairs Sloane was ready to curl up and go back to bed but she was gently nudged in the direction of the bridge instead. 

“And to your left is the infirmary, Dr.Spectra is immensely talented and will be sure to patch you up good as new.”If there was one thing that Sloane had learned in this tour it was that Jaxon _had_ to enjoy the sound of her own voice. “Anyways, it is time we return you to the God-Queen. We wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.” 

Finally being led through the door to the bridge Sloane was greeted by the sight of Tyreen standing near the center of the room talking to the woman who had taken the Priests ID’s when they had brought her onto the ship, Lydia, she recalled, was the woman’s name. 

“Oh good, Priestess Jaxon didn’t bore you to death.” Tyreen said with a smirk. 

“I simply informed our newest Sister of the in and outs of the ship God-Queen.” Jaxon reassured. 

“Yeah yeah, Sloane, this is Lydia. She’s the chief of engineering, she’s gonna get you all set up.” Tyreen beckoned Sloane forward and she stood in the space between Lydia and Tyreen. 

“Right first things first, let’s activate your medi-chip.” Lydia said, reaching around Sloane’s neck to remove the collar before sliding a small band over one of the sides then slipped it back around her neck. 

“It feels the same?” Sloane hazarded. 

“That little band has a micro-needle on it, you can’t feel it but it’s reading your vitals and all that. Troy and I have them to keep track of each other, and now Troy and I will be keeping track of you as well.” Tyreen said as if it were something everyone did casually. 

“Now I just need you to come over here and stick your hands on this screen. Need to get your hand-scan in the system so you can get in the doors.” Lydia said corralling her over to the aforementioned screen. Sloane was a bit surprised at how thoroughly the twins handled security on their ship, granted she had never been on a space faring vessel before now. 

“How many people are on this ship anyway?” She asked looking over at Tyreen trying to pass time as the computer completed it’s scans. 

Tyreen tilted her head, eyes narrowing in thought. “About a hundred and fifty at any given time, we swap out crew when we visit our hub worlds, keeps people from getting stir crazy. Though important folks like Jaxon and Lydia here are always on duty.” 

“And it is a pleasure to be in your eternal service God-Queen.” Lydia said leading Sloane back over. 

“Aw Lydia, you _flatter_ me. ” Tyreen cooed clearly loving every bit of attention. “I’ll have to tell Troy I’m your new favorite!” 

“With all due respect ma’am, I don’t think the God-king would take well to such insinuation and I rather like my position… _and my head attached to my body._ ” Lydia kept her tone submissive but absently rubbed at a mark on her neck that Sloane only noticed now. 

“Hmm you make a good point, took us long enough to find _you_ to replace the last head engineer didn’t it? That’s alright, it can be our little secret.” Tyreen’s playfulness seemed much more threatening now, it was obvious that she thought she was just messing around but she was also clearly reminding the other woman of just _who_ she was speaking to. 

With Sloane now in the Centurion’s system it seemed Tyreen was antsy to get out of the ships bridge there was a clink of metal as Sloane blinked and realized the God-Queen had clipped a leash to the d-ring of her collar. 

“Come along now Sloane, Troy and I have that stream soon.” She said pulling on the leash as she began to walk away. They walked back down the hidden set of stairs that Tyreen had first brought her up on, arriving in the Ship Cathedral only now instead of the dimly lit room it had been when she had been presented before Tyreen it was illuminated with stage lights. 

“Well look who made it with more than ten minutes to spare.” Troy teased his twin as he approached. 

“Yeah yeah, is Iris on set yet?” Tyreen replied giving her nails a once over. 

“Of course, she’s over in the wings as usual.” Troy squinted up at something Sloane couldn’t make out before letting out a low growl. “Hey! Idiots in the box you’re gonna wash out the set, turn those damn brights down.” 

Tyreen tugged in Sloane’s leash again. “Best to get out of Troy’s way during set up. He tends to be a _bit_ of a perfectionist when it comes to this stuff.” 

Off to the side out of the way of setup was a room set up with a hairdressers chair and makeup station, various pieces of clothing Sloane had seen the twins wear at one point or another were hung up on racks. In the center of the room stood a woman who looked about Sloane’s age, wearing a shirt with the CoV logo emblazoned on the front. As she looked up from the clipboard she was reading her purple hair fell in front of her face, which she brushed away before noticing her guests. 

“Ah! God-Queen, is it time for your make-up?” She asked, her eyes flicking to Sloane. 

“In a moment Iris, first I wanted to introduce you to our new family member first. Sloane, this is Iris, she’s in charge of keeping Troy and I looking stunning. She does a pretty stellar job I think.” Tyreen praised with a smile. “Iris, this is Sloane, she’s the stray Siren Troy and found on Eden-4.” 

“Ohhh,so you’re the one Father Troy was talking about.” Iris said looking over at Sloane. “You want me to watch her while you both are streaming tonight?” 

“If it’s not too much trouble of course, I can always ask The high priests to handle it if you’re busy.” 

“It’s no trouble at all God-Queen. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” She said with a smile. 

“Ty.” Troy leaned in the doorway interrupting the women’s conversation. “Get ready the boys want to push the screen test up a couple minutes.” 

“Yeah yeah, I’ll be out in a minute.” Tyreen reassured rolling her eyes as Troy left. “Brothers am I right, when am _I_ ever late for anything? Sloane be a dear and sit over there like a good girl while Iris and I do our thing yeah?” 

Sloane obediently went to the chair in the corner of the room and sat watching as Iris took Tyreen over to her work station. She zoned out for a bit until Tyreen walked over to her. 

“Right, you be nice for Iris, one of us will come pick you up after the stream. Have fun you two!” Tyreen said as she headed out the door. 

“Sooo, how long have you been with the CoV then?” Sloane asked Iris, she was different from the other inner circle members Sloane had met so far in that she and the twins seemed to have a much less formal relationship. 

“Around three years, wow I can’t believe it’s been that long already...They rescued me from slavers, Troy and Tyreen that is. Been a part of the family ever since.” Iris explained while she worked on tidying up her workstation. “What about you, I mean I know you’re new but what drew you to the twins?” 

“They wanted my vault and I wanted to stay with them because, you know to be completely honest I don’t know how to put it in words, I mean sure there’s the whole thing of them being powerful and obviously knowledgeable about the whole siren thing. But also there’s just something in me that saw them and wanted me to follow them, maybe it’s a siren thing I don’t know.” Sloane shrugged knowing she wasn’t being terribly helpful but it was the truth, something had magnetized her towards the twins, something beyond their charismatic smiles and smooth talking. 

Iris paused for a minute seemingly processing some thought about what Sloane had said. “Hm you’re right, Sirens really aren’t in my wheelhouse. Don’t let that put you off though, why don’t we go grab something to eat, get nice and cozy in the media room and watch the stream?” 

That was the first normal sounding suggestion Sloane had heard from one of the twins' entourage in her short time with them. She had a feeling that she and Iris would come to be good friends as they got to know each other.

“That sounds great honestly.” She agreed and was relieved when Iris made no move to clip a leash to her collar the way Tyreen did. Instead walking to the bar to pick up a pizza as if they were well established friends. 

__

Tyreen leaned against the crate of weapons they had been gifted by the citizens of Eden-4 before they left as the crew buzzed around her setting up lighting and positioning the cameras. They were unboxing them tonight and she planned to drop the announcement about the new family member. Not knowing how Sloane would take being put on the spot she had chosen to make this announcement without the other siren present. She and Troy would have to train her to get used to being on camera. 

“Your head in the clouds Ty?” Troy teased as he took his place on the other side of the crate. “You ready for the show?”

“Aren’t I _always_ Troy?” She returned and flicked him in the forehead as he leaned in her direction. They both snapped to attention once the crew gave the all quiet on set call. She straightened her cloak and adjusted her hair watching as Troy did the same as the countdown ticked off, showtime.

Troy took the majority of the night’s stream, he was way more competent when it came to explaining _what_ exactly was so cool about different models of guns. He had tried just handing her a script he wrote once but once it got heavy into the tech jargon it had all gone over her head. It was definitely not her finest moment and it had _definitely_ led to a squabble between the siblings. 

“So Ty, you wanna tell everyone about what _else_ we found on Eden Four?” Troy asked as he set down the last of the guns on the table in front of him. She smirked as she watched the camera turn to focus on her. She pushed off the crate standing center stage now. 

“That’s right brothers and sisters, not only did Troy and I get Eden-4’s vault, but! We also found a stray who offered herself to yours truly and how could I say no to a face like this.” Tyreen cooed as if she were talking about a small animal as a holo-Sloane popped up from her echo-device. “As you can see, she’s a siren, she’s _our_ siren. I have big plans for her so needless to say brothers and sisters, you should treat her with respect.” 

Tyreen smiled again, her thinly veiled warning coming across loud and clear, a new member of the inner circle had been claimed publicly. She then wrapped the stream in her usual bubbly fashion, persona not dropping until she and Troy were back in their hidden staircase headed back to their rooms. 

“You take her tonight, remember to be gentle. We want her to feel safe here, and if we want to test our theory we need her to trust that we won’t hurt her.” Tyreen said, offering the leash to Troy. 

“I won’t need that, trust me.” He said, giving his twin a smirk. “I’m good with the ladies.” 

Tyreen snorted and flicked his shoulder “Yeah, yeah, just don’t get over excited this time, there’ll be plenty of time for that later.” 

—-

A few hours spent on the media room couch talking with Iris and watching the twins stream was enough to make Sloane feel as if she truly did belong here, any lingering doubts about her life with the Children of the Vault fell to the wayside. It felt good to be around people who seemed genuinely interested in getting to know her as a person, not a siren. 

When Tyreen stepped up to make her announcement Sloane blinked in surprise and looked over at Iris. “Should I be worried about that?” 

Iris seemed to think for a minute before shaking her head. “What no, Tyreen does that for everyone she takes in.” 

Sloane wasn’t totally convinced but she knew Iris had no reason to lie to her and she thought that whatever Tyreen’s ‘big plans’ for her were, she was sure to find out soon enough. She knew that the Calypsos expected _something_ from her in exchange for being taken in by them. 

Not long after there was a warning knock on the door before it swung open, Troy stepped through the doorway and rested against it. “Looks like you girls had a good time, I had no doubts that Sloane was in good hands when Tyreen said she’d given her to you Iris.” 

“You’re too kind Father Troy, I just wanted our new family member to feel at home the way you and Queen Tyreen did for me.” Iris said. 

Troy then gestured to Sloane. “Come, it’s my turn with you tonight.” She approached him and he rested his prosthetic hand on her shoulder, the metal appendage’s grasp was _just_ forceful enough that she wouldn’t be able to wriggle out of his grasp even if she wanted to. 

He led her down the hall past Tyreen’s door and into his room. Where Tyreen’s room had been neat and organized Troy’s was a mess; bits and pieces of various machinery were scattered around the room centralized around a work table in one corner of the room. Sitting out on the kitchenette counter was an intricately detailed skull shaped bong that caught Sloane’s attention, it would seem that Troy’s private life _was_ harder to get a beat on than Tyreen’s as outside the tinkering she wouldn’t have expected any of this.

“Sit on the couch and stay put until I come back.” He said with authority, disappearing into the bedroom. She did as she was told, looking at the books stacked on the coffee table, histories of various planet systems and books with titles in languages she didn’t recognize. 

“Good girl, you follow orders. I mean I figured when Ty didn’t have any complaints you must be competent but I wanted to see for myself. Then again you _did_ offer yourself to us so you must have known what you were getting into.” Troy had silently slipped back into the main room having traded his open faced vest for an oversized tee shirt, his prosthetic arm noticeably absent as the shirt sleeve was tied instead. 

“Is there anything else I can do for you tonight Father Troy?” She asked feeling a bit awkward seeing him so casual. 

“Ah-ah, what did I tell you? It's Troy in private doll, but I’ll let it slip. This is our first time alone together isn’t it?” He smirked his hand catching her chin and pointing it up towards his face. She caught sight of his fangs somehow they seemed more threatening in this context than they had when he’d been willing to kill her. “Anyway, as for what you can do for me; go ahead and get comfy in the bed. No funny business I promise.” 

He tilted his head towards the doorway he had walked out of. Sloane hesitated slightly as she got up, she had never shared a bed with a man in any context before now and while she trusted Troy to be true to his word she couldn’t help but feel strange about it. 

His bedroom was much like Tyreen’s, a bed large enough that three people could comfortably fit in it without hassle, yet Troy’s bed was a nest of blankets and pillows piled up like a dragon's hoard. Sloane found a spot to get comfy before Troy reentered the room. 

“Don’t you just look precious. Well, sleep tight, still a lot to be done in the morning.” He said curling up in what was very obviously his spot as shaped by the pillows. 

It would take some getting used to for sure, but this was still better than the life she left behind. 


	6. Sacrificial Lamb

While Troy had slipped away to go collect Sloane Tyreen walked not to her own room but to Iris’ knocking on the painted flower and flashed a friendly smile as Iris let her in. Without needing to be told she sat down and took off her coat and waited for Iris to come clean her makeup off. They had been doing this routine since the twins had taken her in and it was one of the few times Tyreen got to be genuine with someone. 

“So what _are_ your plans with Sloane, you didn’t mention anything specific on stream. That’s not like you Tyreen.” Iris asked. 

“You’re right, I’m usually not coy about what I intend. Especially about people I’ve brought into the circle. I’m not gonna lie to you Iris, I took in Sloane because I have a very specific purpose in mind for her. You know that we’ve been looking for a solution for having to feed Troy, especially when resources to feed both of us might be scarce. Sooooo I was thinking maybe we can just give him another siren to feed on, you know like a living battery pack.” Tyreen explained. She trusted Iris more than enough to tell her what she planned. The only reason she’d not mentioned it earlier was out of concern that it would color her first meeting with Sloane. 

“ _Can_ he feed on other sirens?” Iris asked looking at Tyreen curiously, though she knew of Troy’s condition it wasn’t like the twins had filled in every little detail. 

“Yeah? I mean our mom used to do it for him before my powers woke up. But like if it doesn’t work out she’s good with plants, the farm could always use a caretaker.” Tyreen had considered her options from the start, she never took someone in without several plans for what they could offer back to the twins. This was a family of merit, anyone could join up sure, but only those who were the twins thought had true potential made it to working under their direct supervision. 

“Don’t think of it as lying Iris, if she knew the truth she’d surely tuck her tail between her legs and run away. I mean it’s not like we’re gonna hurt her.” Tyreen reassured. “She’s part of the family, besides I know you two hit it off well, it won’t be a secret for long.” 

“You know I would never question your judgement, unless you were doing something exceptionally stupid Tyreen. I can see that this is important to you so consider it already handled.” 

Tyreen gave Iris a genuine smile as she finished up wiping the last of the eyeliner off her face. It was a weight off her shoulders to know that the woman she would consider her moral compass approved of her plan. 

———-

The first weeks among the Children of the Vault came and went, Sloane having learned the ins and out of being among the twins inner circle. They still had yet to explain what they wanted from her telling her that this was a transitional period allowing her to feel comfortable among the people who had been in their roles for years and then they would reveal their grand design for her. In the meantime it had been a lot of meeting the other inner circle members including video calls with the ones currently stationed back on Pandora. It was a lot to take in but the twins had assured her that she was doing perfectly. 

To her relief after being cooped up on the Centurion for a couple days, something she still had to get used to, the ship had made its return to Pandora. The twins had established a large compound, the Cathedral of the Twins Gods and Sloane enjoyed getting to roam around the compound under supervision of the priests. There was a greenhouse in the back section of the compound and Sloane wanted nothing more than to spend some time with greenery. The plants here were different than the ones she had grown used to on Eden-4 but being back in nature was a welcome diversion from the stress of her new life. 

She was sat by the pond examining a large bioluminescent fern that grew near the water's edge. Her minders stood far enough away that she could pretend she was alone but close enough that no one would be able to get near the Siren without alerting them. 

The tranquility of the moment was interrupted when Mouthpiece approached the watching priests, she was just out of range enough that though she could hear him talking she couldn’t make out the words. Mouthpiece pointed to her then continued talking to the priests seemingly explaining what he had been sent to do. He crossed his arms and waited as the priests walked over to where Sloane sat by the fern. 

“Sister Sloane, we hate to interrupt but the God-Queen’s Mouthpiece has requested that we deliver you to Father Troy’s quarters at once.” 

Sloane quirked a brow. Come to think of it she hadn’t seen Troy since they’d arrived at the compound. She figured that he had simply been busy with his work and she couldn’t deny wanting to catch up with him. She got up and dusted herself off the priests taking her to Mouthpiece. She wanted to ask for more specifics but she also knew that the twins often did not give specifics when they wanted someone so she would just have to wait and see. 

The twins had really gone out of their way to personalize their space here. They had converted different floors into their personal residences, Mouthpiece led her into the elevator and they both swiped their hands on the scanner to be allowed access to the twins private floors. As the lift lurched to a stop and the doors opened Mouthpiece beckoned her forward. 

“The bots will take you the rest of the way.” He said as loud as ever, the doors slid shut behind her before she could ask what he meant. 

Sloane looked around the empty hallway a bit confused before she felt something bump into her shoe a couple times. Looking down she discovered a Mouse Droid seemingly begging for her attention. 

“Garden contamination detected, please follow.” It chirped repeating the message as it began to wheel itself down the hall. Sloane hesitantly followed not sure what to make of the thing as it bumped a door open walking inside Sloane recognized it as a decontamination chamber with a screen set into a wall behind a panel of glass. 

“Greetings Sloane, please follow the instructions on screen.” An automated voice rang out as the screen flickered to life. 

It instructed her to take her clothes off and set them into a chute to be laundered, promising they would be returned at the end of the decontamination process. The nozzles on the roof gave her a quick shower and air dry before she walked into the next staging area and received her clothes again. 

The small bot returned from a cut out in the wall and led her the rest of the way to a door bearing the now familiar twin snake sigil of Troy’s. The door slid open as the facial recognition scan completed and she walked in cautiously not sure what to expect being called in on such short notice, especially when the twins themselves were usually the ones to fetch her. 

The room was dimly lit, the shades drawn and the only light coming from small lamps on a few tables around the room. Troy was sprawled out on the couch, his eyes were shut but from the way he was breathing she could tell he was awake. Something seemed off about him, his skin had a worrying pallor to it and as his eyes cracked open to look at her she noted they were unfocused. 

“Good to see you made it.” He murmured shakily pushing himself into an upright position. His eyes were locked on her siren markings and it seemed to Sloane that they were all he saw in the moment. 

“Uh yeah it was real easy following those bots, what’s the deal with the clean room though? You don’t have that level of security on the Centurion.” She asked; curiosity getting the best of her and part of her hoping that she could get him to stop looking at her like that. 

“I keep a lot of delicate tech in here, I don’t want any of my projects to get damaged.” He said between shuddering breaths as his lungs struggled to bring in enough air. 

Guilt struck Sloane as she realized all she was doing was causing him pain when he was obviously ill. 

“You don’t look so good Troy, should I go get someone?” She asked backing away slowly, but his hand closed around her wrist and pulled her closer with a deceptive amount of force. 

“No. You misunderstand.” He tugged her onto his lap. The look in his eyes went from sickly to predatory and she realized then that even without his prosthetic arm he was stronger than her. His eyes were squarely locked on the swirling patterns of her siren markings, his tongue grazing his upper lip. She felt like she was being looked at the same way a starving man might look at food. 

His hand shifted from her left wrist to her right forearm, as his fingers closed around her siren tattoos they flared. His own tattoos flared in response and she felt a sharp sting run up her arm from where they had made contact. It was like each of his fingers were hypodermic needles as she felt her energy drain out. 

She tried to pull away but he held tightly to her and even though she was afraid she still had no desire to actually hurt him.It became harder to keep her eyes open as he continued and she felt the world falling away at the edges. 

She felt the grip on her arm release abruptly and heard a sigh of contentment from Troy. The edges of vision continued to close in around her and her body felt heavy as she sagged back into the couch. 

“Aw fuck! Shit! Just uh, just hold on...” Troy’s voice has changed from relaxed to panic in an instant. He fished for his Echophone ringing Tyreen in record time. 

———-

“You’re an idiot Troy. I hope you know that.” Tyreen hissed through her teeth from where she stood across from her brother in the waiting room of the Cathedrals medical ward. 

“Oh give it a rest Tyreen, I made one mistake.” Troy shot back “We got the information we needed anyway.” 

“Uh huh, yeah but did you really have to wait until you were on the verge of a crash to do that? Fuck bro what’s the point of giving you a siren if you can’t show an ounce of restraint.” 

“ _You’re_ really going to lecture _me_ about restraint Tyreen? That’s pretty fucking rich Ms. _I can’t touch anything when I get sad_ , give me a fucking break.” A hint of regret hitting him as he saw his twins face fall, he had taken a low blow but she had been asking for it putting him on the spot like this. 

They both paused their arguing as the door opened and Spectra strode towards them. “If the two of you are going to have a squabble I politely request you take it back to your quarters. My ward is meant to be a neutral ground if you recall.” 

“Sorry Spectra.” Both Twins said sheepishly, they both held a fair amount of respect for the older woman given her station. 

“So how’s she doing?” Troy asked to change the subject back to what had brought the twins here in the first place. 

“She’ll be fine, she just needed an Eridium infusion to perk back up. You should have warned me you were on the verge of testing your theory, I would have been better prepared.” Spectra pushed her glasses up her nose and referred to the clipboard in her hand. “I also feel it pertinent to ask how _you’re_ feeling Troy after feeding on a different Siren.” 

“Uh, fine I think? I mean it feels like I got a boost from Ty, so I think it’s safe to say that she works as an energy source.” Troy said, flexing his hand once or twice as his eyes traced the looping red patterns that creeped up his palm, the marks of the false siren. 

“I see, well I think you should catalogue how repeat sessions go. As long as you don’t continue the pattern of draining near all her energy I can give the go ahead on repeat testing. After all she is my patient now too and while I understand her purpose I cannot allow mistreatment under my watch.” Spectra looked up from her notes as she finished her sentence looking for visual confirmation from her leaders. 

They nodded.

“Good, now I’ll send her back to you once she’s up. If you wish to continue squabbling I humbly request that you do it back in your own rooms.” Spectra left little room for talking back as she finished the last of her notes and disappeared back into the depths of the ward. 

Alone again Tyreen eyed her brother with all the authority of a parent looking at their renegade child. “This doesn’t change the deadline for that video I wanted out by midnight Troy. Go get busy, I’ll keep cleaning up _your_ mess.” 

“Yeah whatever.” Troy huffed and pushed off the wall he was leaning on, then headed back towards his room. 

Now alone Tyreen was able to process _her_ feelings about the last hour. They were tumultuous and confusing, why did she feel so guilty that Sloane might have died had Troy not been more careful? This was what they had taken her in for, this was what the other sirens' life was meant to be within the Children of the Vault. So why did it make her feel like this? 

She took a calming breath and left the infirmary as well. The prison ought to have a few choice heretics for her to release her pent up anger and anxiety on. It was just stress she was sure, she’d been working so hard lately maybe she just needed some her time. She would have Jaxon wait to take back to her quarters in her stead as she wasn’t about to risk husking their new family member. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy Folks I hope your enjoying, If you wish to drop me a line or see my world building for this fic I can be found on [Tumblr](https://raidbossmadi.tumblr.com/)


	7. The parts we play

“I just don’t get it.” Troy huffed taking a drag of a blunt as he sat at a grungy table in the engineering garage. His hefty prosthetic arm resting on the table it’s forearm panel open as Lydia diligently looked over the circuitry and mechanics inside. 

“Don’t get what?” She asked as she worked. It was commonplace for Troy to rant about the things that were frustrating him while he was getting his arm serviced and the engineering team were all well equipped to deal with their gods problems, after all they were his loyal children. Tyreen might be the favored of the cult at large but here in the garage everyone prefered Troy. 

“Why I feel like this, I don’t really know what to call the feeling either. I’m not sick...at least I don’t think I am.” He sighed, he _knew_ what being sick felt like and this was something different entirely. It felt like his heart was being held in a fist that was tightening ever so slowly, that his head was swimming in a sea where all he could think about was one singular thing; the new siren. 

Lydia let him talk as she continued prodding at various components in his arm and testing their reactivity then loosened a few wires. “That feel any better, boss?” 

Troy stopped his rambling and rolled his shoulder back letting the weight of the arm rest on his shoulder plate. A hiss of pain exited his lips as the shoulder plate dug back into the already bruised ribs beneath it, the reason for his coming down here in the first place. 

“Nope! That’s not it.” The arm thudded back onto the table which creaked under the sudden weight. He chewed his lip as a distraction from the protesting soreness in his already delicate damaged side. It was just his luck this was all piling up on him like this, the strange feelings, his arm not cooperating, Tyreen increasing his work load. He never could catch a break could he? 

“ _Not since the day Ty and I were born_.” He thought, taking another drag hoping it would take the edge off his soreness. 

“You ought to be checking the counterweight Lyd.” A gruff voice came from behind the male siren and Tink dressed in welders gear hopped up onto the table. “The plate’s not shifting down far enough to be caught by his implant so it’s not shouldering the weight the way it should.” 

“You wanna take it over from here then Hephaestus?” Lydia asked. “I can head out if you two just wanna you know, have guy talk?” 

“Yeah leave it to me, I think I got the solution for our boss’s head problems too.” He said with a smirk that made Troy squirm a little, he didn’t handle confidence in other men well and it seemed that extended to his mechanic as well. He tried to put it behind him, after all these were _his_ inner circle members; people he could and _did_ trust with his life. 

“ So what do _you_ think is wrong then Heph?” Troy leaned back in the chair staring up at the sheet metal ceiling and wondered how many bolts he could count before he got bored of it. 

“Told ya, your counterweight is screwy…Oh! You mean the other thing.” The Tink snorted, of all the smarts the man made god that sat before him possessed, he sure didn’t know anything about his feelings. 

Troy leaned forward again, his hair falling in front of his eyes yet the icy blue glare was still just as effective. “Yes the other thing. Jeez.” 

“Alright, alright don’t go bearing those fangs at me Troy. So this feeling you get, does anything in particular trigger it? Are you walking out to do whatever bullshit you're up to when you ain’t here and seeing a particular person that gets you all dizzy? does this certain person cross your path and you just feel like you don’t know why the planet's gravity turned off for you alone?” Hephaestus didn’t look up from Troy’s arm as he talked gingerly tucking wires out the way to get to the forearm counterweight. Troy seemed to handle things better when he wasn’t being talked to directly, something about making it seem like he was still in complete control of the situation kept him docile enough to ask hard questions. 

“Uh..ye..yeah that’s it exactly. But it doesn’t make any sense does it?” Troy huffed annoyed at himself “After all-”

“Lydia didn’t give herself that bite mark, nor did half the people here. _I know_ , and I know if I were a few feet taller I’d likely have one myself. But there’s a big difference between your little flings and what you’re feeling right now Troy.” 

“Then what is it? I don’t understand.” Troy ground the butt of his blunt into the table flicking it and the pile of ash it left onto the floor. 

“I know you don’t, and that’s why you’re angry, but I want you to think long and hard about this Troy. What makes this person different from any of your little flings? No one can answer that but you and you’d better figure it out before you go hurting them and yourself and everyone else around you because you couldn’t figure it out.” Hephaestus knew he was treading dangerous ground; Troy’s temper was nothing to play with but it was clear to everyone close to the male twin that he lacked a level of emotional maturity that, if he did not figure out for himself would continue to destroy every close relationship he tried to have. 

“Why can’t you just tell me? _Clearly_ you’ve got it all worked out.” 

“If I tell you, you _won’t_ learn anything and that’s the real hang up here. You think you’ve got it all figured out and because of that this new situation’s got you all confused. So all I can tell you for now is think long and hard about what’s different and only then will you understand why you’re feeling this way.” Hephaestus finally looked up from his work on Troy’s arm in time to catch him rolling his eyes in annoyance, he would get it in time. 

“Anyway, your counterweight was all tangled up with leaves’n’shit.” He said, pulling the aforementioned clump of vegetation onto a pile on the table. “Gimme a minute and I can get it recalibrated.” 

Troy stared at vegetation, his lip curling slightly, all of this led back to Eden-4. It just didn’t make sense, ever since he’d fed on Sloane everything had been so strange. He liked the idea of not being so reliant on Tyreen and there had been something soothing about the energy he’d taken from the nature siren. But he didn’t want to harm her, when she had fainted in his arms he had felt genuine concern that he had harmed her irreparably and that had scared him on a level he hadn’t felt since the day Tyreen killed their mother. 

It hadn’t been until that moment that he understood the look of sadness that his sister wore after feeding sometimes. He had thought that she relished in taking the life from those less important than her to feed the ever growing image of a Goddess. 

He was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of the panel being closed up, looking down at the table to see Hephaestus watching him expectantly. “Well give it a try.” 

“Oh right.” He pulled the arm off the table more gingerly this time cautious of if it was really fixed. It sat back in position at his side with little protest of his sore ribs and he sighed in relief. “Much better. Thanks I guess I owe you one.” 

The tink shook his head. “Just doin’ my job Troy. You just go back up to your place and get that thing off while those bruises heal. And tell your big mouthed sister to lay off for a couple days why don’t you?” 

“She’s not gonna like that.” Troy hazarded though a few days to rest and figure things out without Tyreen jumping down his throat sounded like exactly what he needed.

“Does she ever? Doesn’t change the fact you’re not her workhorse. Now get outta here and don’t let us see you for a bit.” Hephaestus teased and shooed the male siren away. 

Lydia approached him as Troy made his exit and quirked a brow noting that there had been a distinct lack of yelling which she had not expected. “Your talk went well then?” 

“Yeah, I gotta let Iris know I owe her fifty bucks though.” Heph said with an amused snort.

“What? Why?” 

“Made a bet with her a while back, told her I didn’t think that angry boy there had it in him to truly love anyone. She disagreed. Didn’t think I’d ever actually have to pay up, but, here we are.” 

—-

“You cannot be acting like this, you need to settle down.” Tyreen hissed. The God-Queen grabbing an errant vine that had erupted from the ivy plant she kept in her room, the plant shriveling as she leeched it back into submission. 

She could understand the other siren being _a little_ upset about the things that had occurred the night prior but lashing out was unacceptable behaviour for anyone with powers like theirs, Sloane might not be able to husk anyone but she sure could if her emotions got out of hand . With the plant taken care of there was little threat for the both of them and Tyreen while still keeping her distance folded her hands in front of her to show she wasn’t going to lash out in kind. 

“Are you feeling calmer now or do I need to have Mouthpiece put you in time out?” She asked. 

“Yes, fine,whatever,I'm good. How about you start explaining what the fuck went on last night.” Sloane asked huffing through her nose, she had not planned for things to be aggressive but her powers had other ideas when she had originally started this conversation. 

“I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about this.” Tyreen started, sounding equally annoyed. To her none of this was worth getting upset about. 

“You don’t? Really? Tyreen your brother did _something_ to me and I don’t know what he starts freaking out I start freaking out , then the next thing I know I’m in the fucking hospital and you don’t think that that’s a big deal?” Sloane exclaimed honestly not sure what even to say at this point. 

“Fine alright maybe it’s kinda a big deal. You might want to have a seat, I don’t know how long this’ll take to explain so we might as well get comfy. I’ll grab drinks you want alcohol ooorrr?” 

“I’ll just have a soda Tyreen.” Sloane gave an exasperated sigh before walking over to the couch and sitting down. A million thoughts were swirling in her mind, why was Tyreen so chill about this like it was normal, even if it _was normal_ for her surely she must understand that not everyone would think that. She was brought out of her whirlwind of thoughts as Tyreen placed the soda can on the table in front of her before taking a seat in the arm chair. 

Tyreen popped the top of her own drink, a beer and took a sip before she sighed again. “So we lied, well kind of. Troy _is_ a siren, but he’s also _not_ a siren, confusing I know just stay with me here alright? Our dad always called him freak, a parasite, he said he was a broken siren that shouldn’t even exist. He told us that if anyone knew Troy was a siren they’d take him away and study him, I mean he told us a lot of things about the world outside that wasn’t true but I don’t doubt that that was the one thing that was.” 

“Wait wait, I’m lost already, what do you mean your dad lied to you?” Sloane tilted her head in confusion, the twins in the time they had been together had barely talked about where they came from and she had never pried despite her curiosity. 

“Our father raised us in a cage, he told us the rest of the universe was full of bandits and corporations that would tear us apart. When we got out we saw he was right, but he never accounted for the fact that we would tear them apart first. But that’s not what matters, this isn’t entirely my story to tell so when you do see Troy again you’ll have to coax the rest out of him. The important part is, Troy’s sick, he always has been. He needs a real siren like me to feed him energy or else...well he withers away. I don’t have the time to babysit him constantly with the Children of the vault expanding at an exponential rate, I can’t always stop what I’m doing or even be on the same planet as he is. So when we realized we were going to be near another siren we thought…” 

“You thought that it would be ok to just grab another siren and not tell me the truth. That you just wanted to use me?” Sloane asked, her voice pitched up as she put the pieces together. 

“Not exactly…” Tyreen started. “We were going to tell you, but Troy instead of topping off on me decided to let his reserves run low and test it himself. If it had been up to me I would have sat you down with the rest of the inner circle and explained the part you’d play.” 

“They all _know_?!” 

“Of course they all know, I don’t take anyone into the circle without first consulting with the others. The circle is a system of give and take, we all have things to offer each other and while Troy and I sit at the top of it all we still give back to the rest. And to be fair, serving Troy isn’t the only thing we wanted you for, you’ve seen the Cathedral garden and the garden on the Centurion, we have another one as well we’ll be visiting soon. Your siren abilities are perfect for maintaining them and we’ve been looking for a caretaker for awhile.” 

Sloane swallowed, unsure of what to think about all this. She knew the twins hadn’t taken her in on pure altruism alone and that she would have to earn her keep among them; she hadn’t expected this. She hardly knew anything about them save for the facets they allowed people to know and just like that this conversation had shattered the public facing facade. 

They weren’t perfect, they weren’t the righteous gods they hoped to become. They were people, broken scared people who had been raised in some sort of backwards way, told that the world outside of their bubble was dangerous and against them. Who wouldn’t want to rise above that, to remake a better world as a god. It all made sense now and the realization that the people who seemed to have the universe under their fingers were just as deeply flawed as anyone else was comforting. They weren’t the wolves that she thought they were, they were just as scared and frightened as she was, they just knew how to spin that fear into power. 

Now with Tyreen’s sins laid bare she couldn’t bring herself to feel the anger she had when she’d walked into the room. There was still a touch of fear that she couldn’t shake at this moment though, she still needed to process everything she had just learned. She couldn’t string together the words to explain what she was feeling she needed time to think about what she wanted to say. 

“I… I’m not angry anymore but I need some time to think, Tyreen. I’m gonna go take a walk around the Cathedral, yes I’ll bring a priest for safety don’t worry. I think I might go spend the night with Iris though, just to have some thinking time.” She said and hoped Tyreen would allow her to leave without much fuss. 

“That’s fair, I'll give you the time to collect your thoughts.” Tyreen sat back in the armchair watching Sloane rise and leave. When the door clicked shut she crushed the now empty beer can in her hand and chucked it at the wall. 

“You’re so fucking stupid Tyreen!” She berated herself. “Of course laying out you stupid sob story wasn’t going to just magically fix everything and have everything go back to normal. So fucking stupid.” She picked up her echophone with the same amount of fury and double checked the time of her afternoon appointment with the marketing heads. Enough time to let her feelings out. 

“ _You_ _shouldn’t_ _deny yourself these feelings._ ” A familiar voice that was not her own spoke up in her head. Nyriad, the siren that had wielded her powers before her waking to share her wisdom as she often did when Tyreen was upset. 

“I don’t even know why I’m upset though, she’s not obligated to thank me or even understand me.” Tyreen snorted. 

“ _Perhaps you should reflect on why she makes you feel this way. I know you long for another to be as close to you as your brother. Do you know what that feeling is called Tyreen?”_

Tyreen was admittedly stumped at first but the longer she thought on Nyriad’s words and her own thoughts and feelings it all started to fall into place. The truth she always knew she’d inevitably have to face and how she would have to decide if she would act on it or continue to keep buried like everything else she was afraid of. 


	8. Bonds of Blood

Sloane found herself just outside a rural village or at least that’s what she assumed what it was, every time she found herself in this place it was always here, a large temple structure rising into the sky above her and when she looked behind herself there were buildings that ascended up the many mountains in the distance. 

As always she felt compelled to walk into the temple and marvel at its high stone walls adorned in ivy and plants of varieties she had never seen in the waking world. A pool of water ringed the room and at its center sat a large statue of a veiled figure bearing four arms extended upwards towards the heavens. At the base of the statue sat two women, who stopped the conversation they were having and looked at her as she entered.

The one of them was a familiar sight, a tall well built woman with braided white hair and siren markings that trailed up her face to just under her right eye; she was Helga Steele, the previous wielder of the siren power Sloane possessed. The other was slightly shorter than Helga,with long black tucked behind her ears and sepia skin that her blue siren markings contested against, hers also curled up under her right eye; which was a striking ice blue. The markings showed the both of them as adult sirens who had come into the full aspect of their powers. The stranger stayed perched at the statue base while Steele approached the newly arrived Sloane. 

“Well met little sister, so you have found your way to Pandora. It is an inevitability that our kind will always be drawn there at some point or another.” Steele said, wrapping her arm around Sloane’s shoulders as she led her back toward the statue base. 

“A _dangerous_ inevitability. You should know that better than anyone Helga.” The stranger chided. There was a _familiar_ affectation to the woman’s voice though at the moment Sloane couldn’t place what about it was familiar. 

Steele stiffened at the other woman’s words, a scowl forming on her face. “You have some gall to lecture me. You are not so innocent yourself considering what _you_ did Leda.” Sloane felt a bit awkward hoping the two women weren’t about to fight but was relieved when Leda raised her hands in an appeasing motion. 

“We aren’t here to point fingers Helga, I’d like to think that the reason we are here is a bit more important than the faults we both made while we were alive.” 

Steele made a ‘hmph’ of appeasement and gave Sloane a bit of a nudge forward. “Before we continue I think introductions are in order, little sister, this is Leda. She was the wielder of our powers before me. Leda, this is Sloane, current holder of our line.” 

Sloane gave a shy wave not sure how to feel about meeting another Siren who had once had the powers she had now, meeting Steele had been a lot to process the first time. After all it wasn’t normal to travel to an ethereal plain and meet people who were no longer in this world, all connected by a thread of power that had been in the universe for millennia. 

“As I was saying, you have made it to Pandora. Leda and I had both been there ourselves in lives and we both understand the danger it contains. I however, do not think _you_ understand the danger, little sister.” Steele said retaking her seat at the base of the statue. “Leda however has more faith in you, which is why she asked to come met with you. You should listen, she is one of the wisest of us.” 

Sloane took a seat on the lower step of the statue's base letting the older women have their place on either side of her. 

“Why thank you Helga, good to know you still hold me in high regards, even if you don’t agree with my _choices_.” Leda said, offering the other siren a genuine smile that again reminded Sloane of something. Steele’s lips pursed as she refrained from starting another debate between herself and Leda. 

“Helga is right though when she says Pandora is dangerous. If not for its _colorful_ inhabitants I can’t say much good about it at all. I know as well that you are not alone in this journey, which is good. It is always safer to be on Pandora with people you can trust and three Sirens are a powerful force to be reckoned with. Listen closely, the danger of Pandora is one that most Sirens cannot resist. You must understand the map is not what it seems.” When Leda spoke it was with a soft motherly tone that bade Sloane to listen and heed her warnings. 

“ _Two_ Sirens, sister. You really must stop with the boy, surely you can see he is not like us no matter what you want to think.” Steele said, shooting Leda a glance, one that Leda returned in kind colder and with an anger that belied her gentle appearance. 

“Is this really what we’re doing right now Helga? Whatever petty bullshit you’re trying to stir up must we really do this in front of the girl?” Leda hissed. 

“For last ten years, I have been the one guiding Sloane. Then out of nowhere you decide to finally get involved, I know what games you are playing Leda.” Steele shot back crossing her arms and standing up. 

Sloane scooted back up til she bumped into the statues feet, she just really didn’t want to be in the middle of the argument that the two women were having. 

“She wasn’t ready to know what I have to teach her, she still isn’t ready for it all. She doesn’t understand the bigger picture, none of them do. You might be angry at my choices but leave _him_ out of this.” Leda frowned then looked back at Sloane with the same gentleness she had before. “Sloane, sweetheart it was lovely meeting you. We will talk again soon but for now I think Helga and I need to work out our differences _alone_.” 

Sloane watched as the edges of the temple began to dark unnaturally and before long the scene before her faded into the nothingness.

——

Sloane woke up on Tyreen’s couch where she had settled down hours before to watch a movie while the twins were out only to have ended up falling asleep. 

“Hey! Sorry I was trying to be quiet, didn’t wanna wake you up, anyway are you hungry?” Tyreen asked peering over the top of the couch. She was still in her God-Queen outfit and given her apology, Sloane reasoned that her entering the room had been what had woken her up in the first place. As she looked up at the face of the other siren her memory of the dream came back. Tyreen’s facial features and complexion were similar to that of Leda's, from the cat-like eyes to the shape of her lips. Sloane of course wasn’t about to assume that Tyreen having a face vaguely similar to a woman she’d barely met meant anything beyond being a strange coincidence. 

“Hm? What time is it?” Sloane asked as she rubbed her eyes. The twins rooms were lacking in windows due to security concerns and while she could understand that it made time in the Cathedral bleed together to a degree. 

“About noon, I was at my morning meetings. We got our food delivery today so if there’s anything you want that we didn’t have last night now is the time.” Tyreen said in a sing-song tone as she shrugged off her coat and hung it up on the door to her bedroom. 

“Do we have those pizza bagels again?” 

“Fuck yes we do! Be a dear and start the oven while I change and I’ll take care of the rest.” Tyreen said as she disappeared into her room. 

Sloane shrugged off the blanket she’d been burritoed in and went about prepping the kitchen for lunch. She also pulled out her echophone and looked through the notifications on the home screen. A notification that the morning sermon had been streaming, the weather, and several texts from Troy; all of which she scanned and when none of them appeared to be emergencies she swiped them away. She hadn’t seen the male Calypso since the incident and while she respected that he was giving her space if they were going to talk she would prefer it be in person. 

As if on cue Tyreen waltzed back into the room something clearly on her mind. “So Troy, really wants to talk to you. Would you mind if I had him come here, that way you don’t have to feel like you’re alone with him if you don’t want that.” She looked at Sloane expectantly, it was obvious that Tyreen meant well and Sloane had mentioned the last time this came up she wasn’t mad anymore. 

“Yeah whatever we can talk, just so long as you’re nearby.” Sloane agreed, not particularly sure she trusted Troy by himself at the moment. She thought of how easy it would be for him to bully her into whatever he wanted with that giant arm of his. 

Tyreen’s demeanor changed, she perked up and flashed Sloane a smile. “Yeah, I'll tell him to come over, go ahead and get ready. I'll take over lunch like I said.” 

Sloane went and changed from her pyjamas into more casual wear and tried not to overthink the coming interaction with Troy. It would be fine wouldn’t it? This was all just a lack of communication and if the twins wanted to do better she couldn’t fault them for that. 

It wasn’t long before there was a knock on Tyreens door and Sloane forced herself out the bed room as Tyreen called “Come in Broooo.” 

The door slid open and Troy walked in looking a bit awkward himself. When he caught Sloane’s gaze he gave a small wave then quickly looked away, turning his attention back to his sister. 

“Uh hey Ty, Sloane. Hope you ladies have been doing well.” He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he made his way further into the room and leaned against the back of the sofa. It was then that Sloane realized that _he_ was nervous and not at all like the self assured man she thought he was before now. 

“Yeah things have been fine, sit down and let’s talk.” Sloane said. She walked around to the sofa sitting so that there would be ample room for Troy to sit with there still being space between them. 

The twins shared a look before Tyreen decided to take her leave heading back into her bedroom but leaving the door open so that she might be easily summoned should things get uncomfortable. 

Troy then took his seat on the other end of the couch, his human hand immediately moving to fiddle with his eyebrow piercing then to pick at the fur collar of his vest as he meant her gaze. “I’m sorry for lying to you. I shouldn’t have waited so long as to not be able to explain things to you.” 

“But you’re not sorry for what you did?” She asked, watching him intently. His fidgeting stopped for a moment before his hand went from his collar to picking at the edges of his shoulder plate. 

“N-no.” He said after a good minute of silence between them. “I know that’s probably not what you wanted to hear but…” 

“Stop.” Sloane leaned over and caught his wrist in her left hand. “You’re going to hurt yourself like that.” She said gently. He squirmed in her grasp and she let go but watched to make sure he wouldn’t go back to picking on himself. 

“Tyreen told me you’re sick. She didn’t tell me much but she said it was serious, that it’s killing you.” She watched him shy away from her as she spoke, it was obvious that talking about this was something that made him uncomfortable. 

“Yeah that’s my whole life in a nutshell. Ever since Ty and I were born it’s been a never ending cycle of me getting sick and our Mom or Ty stepping in to bear the burden of caring for me. It was a lot worse when I was a kid but…. it’s never going to get better and that’s just something I have to live with, So I don’t want your pity,save it for something that matters. I know it’s not a burden I should have thrust onto you so suddenly, and while I don’t regret knowing that you can feed me the way Tyreen does I do wish I’d not let my emotions get the better of me and wait so long to try. I should have told you the truth about my health conditions and what we expected from you in regards to them.” 

“It’s ok Troy. This is new to me but it’s been both of yours for your entire life. You’re right though if you had told me out of gate I would have been confused but I would have agreed because you _need_ it. I don’t want you to die Troy, and I don’t want you to suffer either. I just want to understand.” She said gently. In her time away from him she realized that she was angry because she just wanted to understand. 

Looking at Troy from an outside perspective no one would ever know he was sick, he stayed out of the spotlight that Tyreen craved and when he did appear it was often for short periods of time or calculated that you never _really_ got a good look at him. Here close to him though she could see through those cracks, she could see the bags under his eyes that were usually covered by make-up and how the vest he wore gave the illusion of filling him out when in reality he was dangerously thin. He’d gone out of his way to make sure she hadn’t seen him undress when they had spent the night together and now it was all falling into place. 

“It’s… It’s not easy to admit that I need help, not when ya know everyone expects me to be God-King Calypso all the time and I’m not I’m just _Troy._ If most people knew they’d think I was a freak… I’m not fully convinced that _you_ don’t think I’m one either.” He sighed running his hand through his hair. 

“Then I’ll just have to keep working at it until you believe me Troy. I understand the part you both want me to play in the Children of the Vault and it’s one I’ll take willingly. I want to help, to be here for you, both of you. I want to do what I can to make your lives easier. All I ask in return is that you stop hiding from me. I’m an adult woman, I can handle you at your best and your worst if you just let me in.” She knew it wouldn’t be easy. It would be hard work now that she understood how fundamentally broken the twins were but that only made her want to help them more. They had obviously been hiding what they’re really like for a reason and those reasons ran deep, far deeper than she could have imagined.

“You mean it! Really?” Troy let himself slip from his reserved manner before catching himself and going right back into it “I-I mean of course, I’m glad to hear that. Tyreen and I were hoping that you would agree.” 

“Yes of course I mean it Troy, why would I lie to you? You and Tyreen haven’t given me a reason to feel like I should be, and this is a big deal for all of us really.” Sloane made sure to keep her time even and calm, it meant a lot to her that Troy was willing to show the vulnerable side of himself even if only for a moment. 

“Right yeah, anyway I’m glad to hear that. I’m sure Ty is too. Especially since we’ve been prepping for you formal induction to the CoV. Of course we wanted to wait until things were smoothed over so it’s good to know that we can move ahead with our plans.” Troy went to talking business as it was a deflection from the feelings that were welling up inside him, feelings he still didn’t quite know how to process. Business though, that was easy, clinical almost. It was safe. 

“Oh really? What does that entail?” Sloane’s interest has been caught, when she had seen the twins videos in the past she’d never really focused on their ritual based stuff but it seemed more interesting now that she was in the thick of it. 

“It’s a big party.” Tyreen chimed in stepping out of her room. “We all get dressed real nice and present you to the whole of our followers, you pledge your loyalty to us as your twin gods, get a little tattoo, then we have a good time for the rest of the night. Or head back early if partying isn’t your thing but I think you’ll have a good time.” 

“Yeah it’s a good time and we don’t get to do it very often so we try to enjoy it when we get the chance. Just think about it, every eye in the children of the vault, seven _billion_ people all tuning in to see you.” Troy purred, gesturing as if the wall were full of screens. 

“I’d rather not think of that bit too much all things considered.” Sloane said blushing a bit when she realized just how many people that was. 

“Awww are you camera shy? Don’t worry I’ll make sure we get only the best angles. You’ve got nothing to worry about. This is gonna be great, cinematic even.” Troy smirked and seemed to relax now that he was back in his element and Sloane couldn’t deny that it was nice to see him nerd out about camera work. 

“Well when you put it like that…” 

“See! Nothing to worry about you’re in good hands chica. Plus Iris is working on the cutest outfit for you and I know you’re gonna rock it so you know, don’t worry about it.” Tyreen encouraged. 

They both seemed so happy about the event and even if Sloane was feeling a _little_ shy about it she had said she wanted to know what life outside her forest was like. It was only fair that she continued to leave that comfort zone and see what the universe had to offer. 

“Alright I think I’m sold, sounds like a good time and I mean the CoV is my family now so I can’t imagine denying you a celebration like this.” She was thoroughly convinced that the event would only strengthen her ties to her new family. 

The twins were both beaming their wolfish grins in perfect copies of each other and they high-fived as Tyreen walked past Troy’s spot on the couch. 

“Let's get a start on these preparations then why don’t we?” 


	9. Devotion

The days leading up to the ceremony were a blur of planning and filming as save the dates and promo videos were made and sent out. Sloane couldn’t tell if the Cathedral had always been this crowded or if the influx of priests from the visiting settlements was far more than she had expected when Tyreen had mentioned that a good many of the clans under their banners would be making a pilgrimage this way for the event. They didn’t have nomadic clans on Eden-4 so watching the tent city grow into the surrounding desert and far into the horizon from the twins balcony was a common distraction for her at the moment. 

The glass door to the balcony slid open with a ‘fwoosh’ as Tyreen pushed it aside. “Damn girl it’s been hours and you're still watching them?” 

Sloane giggled “Yeah yeah, make fun of the poor sheltered forest dweller I know. We couldn’t do shit like that back home you know? Too many trees in the way for a big camp like that.” She explained standing up from where she sat stretching as she did so. She missed the trees to some degree, Pandora only offered cacti and the wayward shrub it was a bit of culture shock to someone so in tune with nature. “Oh Tyreen! I wanted to ask you, what is that thing out there?” 

Tyreen followed Sloane’s finger as she pointed to a large dark shape jutting out of the horizon line of the camp. 

“That, is actually what I came to get you for. Sloane we have some guests who’d like to meet you.” Tyreen said motioning for the other siren to come back into the room. 

Sloane walked back in, grateful to the rush of cool air that greeted her and found two men leaning against the half wall of Tyreen’s kitchenette. One was tall and well built wearing a suit with a pair of circle shades on. The other was a rather off putting looking Tink with wild eyes and several facial piercings wearing a rather worn out vest. 

“Ah you must be Miss.Sloane, a pleasure to meet you at last. The God-Queen has told us so much about you.” The taller man said, extending a hand to her. 

“Haha, only good things I hope Mister…” She trailed off as she shook his hand. 

“Ah, where are my manners, I’m Pain! This my business partner Terror, he’s the silent type. We head the Twins gods entertainment division. Worry not my dear, I haven’t heard a thing about you I wouldn’t tell my audience.” He said with a smile. 

“Sorry pardon my surprise Mr.Pain I just thought I’d met all the department heads already.” She cast a glance at Tyreen a bit surprised that she’d never mentioned them until now, but the God-Queen seemed completely unphased. 

“Well you see my partner and I run a bit of a traveling show called Carnivora and sometimes that puts us out in the dead zones. Which in fact is where we just came back from after getting a missive from one of the CoV outposts. Our gig is staged in that _thing_ as you so kindly put it.” 

Sloane blushed as she realized they had heard her conversation with Tyreen. “I hope I didn’t cause any offence. I do believe you know where I came from then? We don’t have such things back on Eden-4.” 

Pain winked at her. “Oh I am aware Miss.Sloane. That brings us to our business now actually. We’re in charge of the after party portion of tonight’s celebration and we wanted to make sure everything was just perfect before the big event. The God-Queen mentioned you have a bit of an _affinity_ for plants, correct?” 

“Oh I most certainly do have an affinity for plants sir. One could say I’m rather in tune with nature.” She smirked. She had never been overly proud of her powers but it seemed like she was being sized up and she wasn’t going to back down from it. 

“Good,good. We’ve arranged for all kinds of exotic plants to be imported into Carnivora for tonight, I do hope you’ll find them satisfactory.” 

Sloane didn’t like the sleazeball attitude she got from the Pain but at the same time she wasn’t about to make a fuss or a fool of herself in front of Tyreen. She instead nodded her head politely and said “I’ll be looking forward to seeing what you’ve done.” 

“Oh it’ll be a night to remember for sure.” Tyreen chimed in. “Anyway Pain, Terror, lovely seeing the both of you as always but we’ve gotta get going to deliver Sloane here to the High Priests for the rest of preparations so I will catch you both tonight at the show.” 

Tyreen ushered Sloane out into the Cathedral hall where Troy was waiting to join them. Tyreen waited for the door to click close before she spoke again. “Pain and Terror can be a bit _much_ and that’s saying something coming from me.” She said with a chuckle. “But they mean well and I’m sure you’ll see that pay off tonight.” 

“Hah yeah totally, you could have told me they were there before I made an _ass_ of myself though.” Sloane hissed still processing the entire encounter. 

“Oh don’t get your panties in a twist they won’t say anything, not if they want to keep their cushy positions. Pain was just testing to see if you're a pushover and you’re not so, don’t worry about it.” 

“Ugh they talk _so much_ , or well Pain does. Never had much of an issue with Terror, but eh. They bring in the views and our followers love their performances so what can ya do but let them do their thing right?” Troy remarked clearly not having all too high an opinion of the duo himself. However there was not time to press him for more information as Tyreen continued to lead her through the hall until they approached the large decorated doors that lead to the sermon hall where the high priests would be waiting. 

The doors swung open from the inside as two lower ranking priests bowed low as they entered. The room was wide and full of pews, decorative metal arches sprawled on the ceiling just below stained glass murals of the twins, hands extended towards the viewer. The smell of incense rose from smoking censers that hung in the corners of the room and while often there were grand sermons being presented the only sound in the room currently was the soft humming of the group of robed figures standing at the pulpit. 

As Tyreen, Troy, and Sloane approached the group all kneeled drawing the symbol of the Children of the vault in the air before casting their heads down to the floor. Sloane was fairly certain she could pick out which of the priests were Jaxon and Helios based on height and the more decorative nature of their robes but with their hoods up it was difficult to know for sure which high priest was which. 

“God-Queen, Father Troy, Blessed Sister, we are honored to be in your presence.” A voice that was decidedly Jaxons broke the silence with a reverence Sloane had only heard from the lower priesthood until this moment. 

“I’m entrusting you all to keep Sloane safe until the ceremony. You know what to do.” There was a veiled threat in Tyreen’s voice that was enough to keep them all in line. 

“We’ll see you tonight.” Troy added.

With that the twins turned and left the way she came while Sloane waited for the priests to give her further instructions. Though she could only barely make out outlines of faces under the hoods she felt the gazes of all of them upon her. 

“You are in good hands Sister Sloane,” Jaxon said, closing the gap between the two of them. “Our fellows are here to see to it that you are ready to be presented not only to the Twin Gods but all of our children. Please come with us.” 

For the first time in awhile a leash was attached to the ring of her collar and she was led in formation through a door at the back of the room. Sloane took stock of the room they had entered; it appeared to be a public bath. Though unlike most public baths the bathing pool was small and circular, the water's surface decorated with flower petals. 

“We are going to undress you now, Blessed one.” 

Sloane realized now that half of the priests had stayed behind at the doorway and assumed that meant that the priests inside the room were all women. She simply stood there as the priests circled around and gently removed her clothes. They were humming the soft tune again and she felt a bit light headed, like they had been transported to some ethereal plane where it was just her and the priests. 

Once she was nude they led her over to the pool and she gingerly stepped in. The water was warm and inviting and she was almost able to tune out the hands of the priests as they bathed her in floral smelling soap. After what felt like an age they prompted her to get back out and wrapped her in a towel before they shuffled to the back of the room where they finished toweling her off. Now dry instead of handing her regular clothes back to her they gave a white cloth gown that looked akin to their robes save for the hoods. 

Now dressed and back in the main room of the sermon hall. Sloane looked to the priests who all nodded and Jaxon spoke. “You are ready to be presented to the Twin Gods. Come we will deliver you to the Holy City.” 

The group of priests moved again to surround Sloane so that no one would be able to see the siren amongst them. They walked to the Cathedral garage which was emptier than she had ever seen, only a single heavily armoured technical with an enclosed back sat in the middle of the room. Two well armed members of the lower clergy were waiting by the driver and gunners seat while the high priests loaded her in first and then filed in around her. 

“Are you nervous, Blessed One?” Helios asked as the car pulled out of the garage. 

“Maybe a little, if only because of how many people are going to be watching.” She admitted. Seven billion people was far more than she had ever imagined seeing her in her life. Somehow that was more scary than being in the presence of the two most influential people in the six galaxies, but they were sirens like her and even with their domineering public images they felt safe to her. 

“Do not dwell on that Blessed One. Think only of how you are giving yourself over to the family; to the Twin Gods. When you are presented focus on them and nothing else will matter.”

While Sloane didn’t quite think that would work with her the way it might with someone who bought into the idea that the twins were actually gods she couldn’t deny that they did have an effect on her. Feelings that had been growing in her like the roots of a plant, she was only just beginning to understand what they might mean. All she knew was that tonight was more than just cementing her place as a loyal follower of the twins. 

As they approached the holy city that had grown in size over taking the patch of desert it normally bordered the sound of Mouthpiece’s music and people partying filled the air. They drove past crowds of revelers , neon lights, and an entire fairground erected in the centre of it all. A large holographic image of Pain was projected in the air as he gave a spiel with all the charm and charisma of a ringmaster.

“Don’t forget dear devoted followers, tonight we have a special Carnivora performance full of mystery and bloodshed. And for all the Eridium tier followers in attendance don’t forget to pick up your commemorative buzz axe and tee shirt.”

The air was almost buzzing with excited energy like the calm before a lightning storm. It was tangible even from the inside of the vehicle, even as their drivers hollered out the windows to clear the way ahead of them Sloane felt no danger. Though she did want to be back in the twins company, this was the longest time she had spent away from them since being taken in by them and it was only now that she realized how safe they made her feel. 

The technical lurched to an abrupt stop suddenly and the clergy member in the passenger seat leaned back to look at everyone in the back. 

“We’ve arrived, exalted ones.” 

“Thank you for your service, may the Twin Gods bless your path.” Jaxon said as the high priests filed out of the vehicle before offering Sloane a hand up. 

As she exited the car she looked up and saw with great detail that which had been looming in the background of the Cathedral all week. It was a massive fortress set on even more massive tank treads with enough room underneath to comfortably build another tent city under, which the revelers had in fact done leaving an exclusion zone in the path of the trends. The entrance was that of a giant metal skull complete with stairs designed to look like a tongue as the way up. 

Soon as she was led into the complex Sloane was amazed by the sheer number of people milling around in the entrance hall. Some of them noticed the band of priests entering and began to whisper amongst each other but most of their gazes were affixed to the giant screens hanging on the walls. From this angle Sloane couldn’t tell what was going on but she could make out the bottom edges of Tyreen’s boots. 

“This way Blessed One.” A priest tapped her on the shoulder and gestured to a scaffolding ladder that led up into the higher levels of the fortress. Sloane tried not to think about how unsteady the metal ladder seemed as she climbed higher the crowd of people blurring together into a swarm of color and movement before she reached the platform the priests who had already made the climb were waiting on. 

“We’re so high up.” She remarked as they waited for the last few to join them. 

“Surely you didn’t expect us to try and cross that crowd. I don’t think anything less than a direct order from one of the twins could part that sea.” Helios remarked. “I like it up here though, really shows you the bigger picture.” 

He was right, from up in the catwalk the entire room was visible from the masses of followers being sorted to their appropriate spots to the massive images of Tyreen and Troy on the screen. It was all a system, this building, a well oiled machine that knew how to run at the most efficient of levels. This was just an entertainment complex yet somehow it seemed to be representative of how the whole of how the Children of the Vault operated.

They exited the room through the catwalk and entered what appeared to be a performers lounge. She could see evidence of the Twins having been there including a couple husked bodies in the corner and a well used ashtray. 

“Sit tight Blessed One.” Jaxon said as the high priests all scattered to do various things and left Sloane in front of two screens which played the Twins current stream. Tyreen and Troy were dressed in showier versions of their standard outfits. Troy’s snake emblem motif carried over around the shoulders to the front of his vest, while Tyreen still wore her standard coat; the clothing under it was a deep purple dress with Star patterns scattered across it tastefully. Both outfits drew attention and played well with the twins' siren markings and Sloane was impressed with the craftsmanship of them. 

“And that about wraps up the pre-show folks, be sure to leave a comment on what your favourite act of Pandora’s next top slaughter with the hashtag Carnivora for your chance to win an eridium tier membership.” Tyreen said leaning against the railing of the balcony she and Troy stood on. 

“We’ll be back after a five minute break to get this show on the road, in the meantime sit back relax and watch the skullcrusher clans fire juggler.”

The CoV logo flashed on screen before the scene shifted to the fire juggler. Sloane jumped as a hand touched her shoulder and as she turned to look she saw one of the high priests put their hands up defensively and take a step back. 

“My apologies for the startle Blessed one, there is one more thing we must do before you can be presented to the Twin gods.” They said before attaching a thick chain to the collar. 

It was in that moment that Sloane noted the quiet that had descended. Until now there had been a constant thrum of music that she had pushed to the back of her mind as she processed everything, now however it was silent. Helios returned to the room through the curtain partition and gave a nod to the others. They closed around her again, Jaxon taking the chain in her hand and they walked through the curtain. 

Troy’s cam bot whizzed into the air space near Sloane’s head immediately and hovered, tracking her as she was led forward across the balcony. The silence felt heavy. She looked to the ground below them and saw hundreds of people sat heads bowed in prayer, the twins standing tall at the end of the walkway waiting to be joined. Hanging from the ceiling were hundreds of baskets of exotic plants, flowering vines as thick as her waist overflowing from their pots. As she walked past some of them swung forward towards her as she reached out with her powers to have a better look.

“Children of the Vault, please turn your attention from your prayers to welcome the newest member of the holy family.” Tyreen announced. Sloane could feel all seven billion eyes across the universe turn towards her as the gap was closed between herself and the twins. 

“Kneel before your Gods.” Tyreen commanded locking eyes with her, the steely blue seeming cold and methodic. It was almost like looking into the eyes of a stranger and not the woman Sloane had spent the better part of recent times getting to know. Without hesitation she kneeled and heard the chain jingle as it passed from priest to god. 

“You came to us lost and without purpose, but here in our holy family you are useful, you are among people who would lay down their lives to protect you and would expect you to do the same without hesitation. Do you swear yourself to this cause?” 

“Yes.”

“Do you Sloane, swear yourself to us, the Twin Gods?”

“Yes, God-Queen.” 

“This chain around your neck, it symbolizes the life you lived before we found you. The things and people that hurt you, but no more. Troy would you do the honors?” 

Tyreen passed a pair of bolt cutters to her twin who stepped forward as his sister moved to tilt Sloanes head up and out of the way. The chain fell away with a loud thunk as it hit the floor. 

“Your bonds are broken. Your path clear, there is but one thing left to cement your place within our holy family. You must wear the mark.” Troy said gesturing to a tattoo gun that sat on a small table to the left of them. He took it in his human hand and approached her from behind, one of the priests pushing the collar and her hair out of the way. 

She was surprised as the buzz of the gun got closer to her, Troy’s mechanical arm resting on her back to keep her in place. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she felt it make contact with her skin. The more surprising action however, was when he leaned in close to her ear and whispered “You can get through this, just relax.” 

True to his word she zoned out focusing instead on Tyreen who stood proud as ever observing the two of them. The details of her outfit were impeccably highlighted by the lighting of the room and Sloane thought about how much planning she must put into every appearance the twins made. Before she could over analyze the set dressing and lighting of the event Troy gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder and backed off. 

“Wear it proudly.” Troy said rejoining his sister while Sloane stayed kneeling before them. 

She heard the camera drone whiz around her again before it went back to hovering in front of Tyreen. Tyreen’s boots clicked against the floor of the balcony as she approached and stopped in front of her. A gloved hand caught her under the chin and tilted her head upward to look into those cat-like eyes. 

“Do you swear your undying loyalty to us? To the family?Do swear to strike down all those who would stand against us or threaten your family with harm?” She tilted her head like she was scoping out prey, she knew the answer already but she wanted to hear it. 

“I swear my God-Queen. I pledge my life to the Twin Gods.” They had rehearsed this scene but now that it was real there was something strangely different about it. Sloane’s throat felt dry as the words left her mouth, there was more to it than just servitude and protection for her. They were Sirens. They were like her and even with the expectations they had for her it was just so nice to feel like she was somewhere with people who truly understood her. People who would see her as an equal instead of someone beyond them. 

Tyreen’s lips curved into a genuine smile as if until this moment she had been unsure if Sloane was going to say yes. She released her grip and motioned for Sloane to stand as she turned back to the crowd. 

“There you have it brothers and sisters, another member has joined our ranks and a Siren no less. Please give the warmest Children of the Vault welcome to our newest member of the high clergy, Blessed Sister Sloane.” 

Sloane felt Troy’s hand catch the front of her outfit as she was pushed forward by the priests. He pulled hard but instead of tearing the fabric off her the plain white robe flipped over a tear away seam revealing that all along it had been a green dress covered in embroidered flower patterns and vines. 

The roar of excitement from the crowd was almost deafening. In that moment Sloane was sure the planet itself was vibrating under the energy ramping up from the crowd. Her own fears were cast off in the moment, she was home, she _belonged_. This was what she had been missing since the day her parents decided they were unwilling to raise a siren. As she looked to either side of her the twins wore grins that were far more wolfish than Sloane would have expected, it seems this was the reaction they were hoping for.

“ **Silence, your God-Queen wishes to speak.”** Mouthpiece’s voice rang out after what felt like an eternity of cheering. The silence that descended almost had a tangible weight to it as Tyreen stepped in front of her again. 

“Thank you, all of you. I’m sure Sloane feels right at home knowing how much you love her already. Now this wouldn’t be a welcome party if we didn’t let her spill some heretical blood. Do the honors won’t you Mouthpiece?” Tyreen purred looking down into the ring at her bodyguard. 

Sloane watched as a cage emerged from the center of the room. Now the plants made sense, they wanted her to prove she was a killer, a predator. They wanted to prove to everyone watching that she was just as dangerous as the gods she served. Of course, Sloane was no stranger to killing things to survive. She had hunted the creatures in her forest back on Eden-4, she had even killed people who were poaching the wildlife but this felt different somehow. Those had all been private, no one had known she was a killer when she was the witch of the woods she was just an urban legend then. There would be no denying what she was this time. Everyone would see her do it; they would know what she was capable of. They might even fear her after it was done. 

She looked at Tyreen again, she was the best example of what Sloane thought a siren should be. She was strong and fearless, she carried herself with the air of someone who knew they were born to lead. She knew Tyreen wouldn’t hesitate in a situation like this, she wanted desperately in that moment to earn Tyreen’s praise. So she couldn’t hesitate either. 

She reached out to the nearest group of plants, her siren markings flaring as her fingers caressed the vine. A single touch being all she needed to know what the plant was capable of. This one was a pitcher plant, she could use that. Her powers called out to the others of its type that were hanging around the room and they merged together vines overlapping like a large snake at the end of it a large pitcher erupted easily large enough to hold human bodies. The plant slipped into the cage between the bars, vines grabbing the prisoners as they tried to escape screaming and writhing as they were tossed into the pitcher. 

Sloane turned to look at the twins as she released her hold on the plant, still unsure of what she was feeling. Their icy blue eyes seemed to be calculating her performance before the creases of a smile formed on their faces. A tangible weight lifted from deep inside her guts, they weren’t horrified or afraid, she had done well.

“Well wasn’t that a show everyone! You might want to watch out Pain, she might give your little show a run for its money.” Troy praised clapping her on the small of her back with his prosthetic arm. 

“We’re going to take the Blessed Sister back to our viewing area to watch the rest of the festivities. Stay bloodthirsty brothers and sisters, and for you newcomers joining us for the first time tonight don’t forget to like, follow, and obey.” Tyreen bowed for the camera and the audience. Her hand then threaded around Sloane’s waist much the same way Troy’s was. 

The twins began to walk back towards the back room Sloane guided by their contact, once they crossed the threshold she felt the adrenaline wear off and she sagged slightly. 

“If you wanna stay Ty I’ll take her back to the Cathedral; starting to get a headache from all the noise anyway.” Troy said as he caught her in his grasp hefting her into the crook of his prosthetic arm. 

“Yeah I’ll pick up your slack _as usual_. Just don’t do anything stupid Troy.” Tyreen rolled her eyes and Troy didn’t particularly _like_ the tone she had taken but again he was exhausted and not in the mood to argue with her. 

Instead he flipped her off and gave a snort fighting back the urge to snark after her not to drink too much. He knew she would, he knew he’d probably be taking care of her hung over ass in the morning but he honestly couldn’t care about that right now. His attention was continuously dragged back to the barely conscious form of Sloane in his arms. He was being very careful to avoid grazing her Siren markings, he didn’t need to feed right now and something inside him was screaming at him to not betray her vulnerability. He very well wouldn’t like it if someone tried to take advantage of him when he was vulnerable, hence why it was such a rare thing to see from him at all. Troy had faced far more betrayal and pity from showing his vulnerability so now he made sure that the only people who saw were the same people he would trust to hold a knife to his throat . 


	10. Solace

Sloane didn’t remember much of the trip back to the Cathedral. Only that every so often Troy would jostle her slightly and ask “You alright there?” To which she would give a noncommittal grunt to signify she was still conscious though that was a struggle when it was just so cosy to be resting on him like this. His scent filled her lungs with every breath, he smelled like herbs and leather and his furred collar was just so inviting to lean her face into. It was only fair that she got comfortable around him, she did belong to him now as far as the CoV was concerned. 

The familiar smell of his room pulled her from her thoughts and she realized he was setting her down on the corner of his bathroom counter and she leaned against the mirror to stay upright. The tattoo on the back of her neck still stung. Not as bad as when she’d gotten it hours earlier, though she supposed she had her siren healing to thank for that. 

“Long day yeah? I know the feeling, so much pomp and ceremony with everything we do but hey -” he shrugged his shoulder “That’s Ty for you. She wants everything to be a show. You did great out there though, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you were a native.” 

She watched him fill the sink with warm water and drag a damp washcloth across his face. She noticed that when he pulled the cloth away it was smudged with foundation. Normally he just wore eyeshadow but she realized now how tight the camera angles had been on him, how he usually was out of focus or not in the shot at all. She had thought he looked _off_ , without a face full of makeup his features were softer and inviting. 

“Everything ok? You seemed a bit short with Tyreen back there.” Sloane finally found her voice again, she kept her tone level and submissive not wanting him to think she was challenging his authority. 

“Don’t worry about it, my meds were starting to wear off and I didn’t want to be out with the insufferable people she hangs around with at after parties . Besides you looked about ready to keel over as well.”

He wrung the washcloth out and tossed it into a hamper behind him before walking back out into his room for a moment returning with a bundle of clothes one of which he tossed at Sloane who was unprepared and they wound up bouncing off her face into her lap. 

“Sorry. Anyway that’ll be huge on you but it’s pyjamas so who cares.” It was in that moment that Sloane realized he was intending to undress right here in front of her. Not that she was shy about being nude; that was just a fact of life. It was more so that he had so far skirted around it, always changing away from her which had led to a curiosity that she supposed was about to be sated. 

“Could you help me? The zippers in the back and I can’t reach.” Sloane asked as she hopped down from the countertop he’d placed her on, feeling slightly less exhausted now that they were away from the high energy of the celebration. 

Troy stepped over to her, his left hand grabbing the zipper and giving it a sharp downward tug. The dress began to slide off her shoulders and she carefully stepped out of it setting it back on the counter before her. 

“Huh. Your siren markings are pretty contained to your arm.” He remarked, the comment pulling her from the weird floaty feeling that had overtaken her and reminded her that she was naked in front of a man for the first time in her life. 

“Hah yeah I’ve never really thought about it, they’re pretty plain compared to yours. Your markings are so nice. I love how they accent your face.” She said as she pulled the shirt over her head. He was right it was more akin to a dress on her than a shirt but it would do for bedtime. 

“I’m not a Siren though.” He reiterated the point that he had made when she’d asked him back on Eden-4. “Sirens are _powerful_ , they’re strong.” 

“Are you not?” Sloane tilted her head and turned to face him. “Troy you’re one of _the Twin Gods_. And I mean you _have_ powers I’ve seen them, normal people don’t survive off the life force of other Sirens Troy.” 

Something changed in him then. She watched him swallow hard and he slumped over himself, less in the haggard way that he usually was but more like something he’d been bottling up broke in that moment. 

“That’s not a power, it’s survival. It’s all this stupid broken body can do to keep itself going. These markings are nothing but a desperate attempt to cling to life. It’s funny you know my mom she always used to tell me I was special, that I should love what I am… but I _don’t._ Come here, I'll _show you the truth._ You were gonna find out sometime anyway.” He sighed. 

She was torn between reassuring him that it was fine, he didn’t need to do whatever it was he was planning. There was a heaviness in the air now though that made her feel that pressing the issue the opposite way would only make things worse. Instead she just approached him silently as he asked.

“Show me then.” Sloane watched as he shrugged off his vest. It pooled in the elbow of his prothesthic and he didn’t bother to correct it, instead beckoning her closer again. 

Troy moved to grab her hand before he paused in the middle of the motion, his eyes locked on the markings that looked over both of their fingers. Gently he hooked his hand around a gap in her markings and pushed her hand gently up under the shoulder joint of his prosthetic. 

“Do you feel the latches on the side there?” 

She nodded, as she ran her fingers over them. She felt the release for them and pressed,taking note of the sigh of relief that came from him at it disengaged. She gave a short squeak of surprise when the full weight of the arm was suddenly being supported by her hands. Carefully she lowered it to the floor and wondered how he managed to wear it for long periods of time. 

“Next part’s easy, you’ll be able to see what you’re doing this time.” He turned to lean against the counter, his back facing her. 

A small gasp escaped her as she looked it over. A metallic implant curved to his spine, bits of tattoos peeking out from under suggesting that it was a rather _new_ addition to his setup. She’d never seen his bear back before now, though she supposed _this_ was the reason why. She hesitated as she noted the wires that threaded through it came to a stop at a neural port attached to the base of his skull. She didn’t want to hurt him by mistake. 

“It’s just a spinal implant, it doesn’t bite.” He hissed picking up on her hesitation. 

“I just don’t want to fuck up and hurt you.” 

“A sweet sentiment but if you do you do, no big deal. Everyone else does.” 

Sloane didn’t like the feeling of being brushed off and lumped in with ‘everyone else’. She had genuine concern for his well being yet he was acting like it was just normal for people to not care. 

“Wires off first doll , then just squeeze the sides of the top vertebra. The rest will come right off.” 

She hesitated as she reached up towards the wires. Her hands were shaking as she pulled them out of the neural port and guided them back into their housing in the first vertebra. She examined it carefully as she looked for what she was meant to be squeezing. It had two green lights at the top where the wires were housed and as she ran her hand over it she could feel two divots in the sides. She gave them a squeeze and watched as the implant began disengaging from his back curling like a metallic centipede. 

Troy gave another noise of contentment as she set the implant down in the sanitizer in the corner of the room. 

“Do you leave those uncovered?” She asked, gesturing at the three ports on his spine. The skin around them seemed irritated and she couldn’t help but gently bring her thumb up to gently massage between them. 

A shiver ran up his spine and the noise that escaped him was positively more relaxed than anything she had heard come out of him before. She caught him blushing in the mirror as he worked to regain control of the situation. 

“Uh no, I’ve got caps for them by my bed. I’ll deal with that when we’re done.” He said turning back around. Sloane hadn’t the time to scoot back so they were almost flush against each other and were this any other time she might have found herself a sputtering mess but this was not the time or place for it.

He guided her hands just under the collars he wore, on his right side where his collarbone should be there was instead a subdermal port that his bracer was connected to. She fumbled a bit, surprised at just how much of a process this was all for one prosthetic. Once the first attachment was removed the bracer began to lift away from his skin. Now he was the one to hesitate as he guided her to the underside of his ribcage, his hand shaking as he did so. She slid her hand under the metal pausing for a moment to let him change his mind if he so wanted to. When he didn’t she undid the latch she could feel there and pulled the bracer off him gently. 

Troy stood stock still, his breath held as she took in what he’d wanted her to see. Beneath the bracer was a long line of scar tissue that curled around his ribs, where the bracer sat his skin bruised and discolored, there were also several pressure sores in various stages of healing. The worst part was how vulnerable he looked when she met his gaze, like a gust of wind would shatter him. This wasn’t something he wanted people to see, but it was a part of him no less and she thought no lesser of him. 

“Troy…” Sloane began her tone gentle and comforting but she was cut off by a sharp growl from him and she suddenly found his golden canine only inches from her face. She shrank back from the near miss, she had heard Tyreen and the priests talk about Troy’s hair trigger temper but she had never seen it before now. 

“Save it. I don’t need your pity, I don’t _need_ anyone’s pity. Like I said I just wanted to prove you wrong, I’m not powerful or strong. You can think whatever you want but spare me the pity.” He straightened back up to his full height, his lips still curled enough to show his fangs. 

His eyes betrayed his words though, there was a vulnerability in his gaze. There was hurt and desperation that he was trying his hardest to cover with his posturing. 

“I...I don’t pity you Troy. Whatever happened, whatever did this to you… it’s not your fault. You’re not a lesser person because of this.” She assured him stepping closer again even under the threat of being bitten. 

“N-No...y-you’re...you’re w-wrong. This is my burden… t-this is my punishment.” He reaffirmed his hand curling around his damaged side. 

“Punishment for what Troy?” 

“For holding everyone back! For being a burden to everyone else just by existing.” He responded exasperated like this was something that should have been obvious. 

“How are you holding anyone back? You do all the hard work around here I’ve seen it. You make sure Tyreen doesn’t make a complete ass of herself in front of the cameras. Iris and Lydia have nothing but good things to say about you when we talk at the circle meetings.” She pressed, though the reasonable part of herself whispered that she could find his teeth in her neck within seconds. 

He turned to violence so easily she had to wonder what had led him down this path to begin with. Especially when he was relaxed he was far from a violent man, yet the image of those golden teeth flashing before her face was burned into her mind now.

He slumped against the tile wall, his hand still fidgeting nervously over his damaged side. He was trying not to look at her but Sloane cautiously approached him. This wasn’t like anything she’d seen from him and yet she could feel that this was _him_ , a part of him so buried under false confidence that he didn’t want to acknowledge it around other people. 

She still wasn’t sure _why_ he had chosen now to open up to her or if this was supposed to be some kind of test. What she _did_ know was she couldn’t leave him a heap on the cold bathroom floor like a cornered feral animal. 

“Go on, leave! L-Leave me!” He hissed not looking up. Sloane couldn’t understand what the point of this was, why he was so determined to get her to leave. Why he thought showing her that he was just as broken as the rest of them would make her think any differently. 

“C’mon, let's go to bed. I’m not leaving and I’m certainly not leaving you on the floor.” She pushed as she hooked his arm around her shoulders and led him out of the bathroom. 

Back in the bedroom after what felt like an eternity in the stark whiteness of the bathroom Sloane sank into the bed after gently setting Troy down on his side of the bed. Of course she knew this wasn’t over, it was far from over. She took his face in her hands even as he still hissed and resisted her. 

“What was all that bluster for Troy? What is the purpose of all this? You bring me here to get away from the reality of our lives and then turn around and tell me to leave you after bearing your soul to me. What is the end game here?” She asked her eyes filled with all the hurt and confusion she felt in the moment. 

“I don’t know, I was hoping it would make you see what I am. That I don’t _deserve_ your kindness or attention, for fucksake Sloane you’re here to feed me. Doesn’t that bother you? Doesn’t seeing the man beneath the god make you just want to pack up and crawl to Tyreen I’m sure she’d love to have you as a handmaiden.” He had stopped trying to fight her now clearly too tired to continue this struggle he was _losing_. 

“No. It doesn’t Troy. I’m honored that you felt safe enough to show me your right side. I only hope that you didn’t feel that you had to do it before you were ready. It doesn’t matter to me if you're perfect or not, for fucksake _I’m_ not perfect. I just want to know what your endgame was here.” 

He squirmed out of her grasp and hooked his hand under her chin in kind. “I want to take you on a date, like a real one. Just the two of us, I want to show you the best spot in the galaxy. I want to be with you Sloane.” 

She blinked, of all the things he could have told her _that_ was not the one she expected. He had the entire CoV at his disposal, worshippers flung themselves at his feet with the hopes of being taken to his chambers. She knew the marks on the inner circles necks, knew that they were a testament to God King Calypso’s opinion on commitment written in his favorites blood.

There was the voice in her head that reminded her how charmed _she_ was by him the first time she saw him and how they had been growing ever closer in their time together. Part of her reminded her that they were more alike than the swarming masses outside, they were Sirens. Perhaps she was a fool to think she would meet a different fate than any of the others, color her a fool then. 

“I would like that Troy. I would like that a lot.” She said with conviction, she didn’t want him to think she was only placating him. He had been honest with her; it was only fair that she be honest back. 

He kissed her hand lightly. “You won’t regret it. I promise.” The way he said it almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself too. 

This wasn’t the direction Sloane had thought joining the CoV would take her, then again she hasn’t expected anything. They would have had every right to leave her on Eden-4 or even to kill her after they’d gotten what they’d wanted from her. Everyday was a new experience that she wouldn’t have gotten staying in her comfortable life. She was ready to face whatever the universe threw at her and meet it head on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to see more worldbuilding and character development please check out the People like Us tag on [My Tumblr](https://raidbossmadi.tumblr.com/)


	11. Sisterhood

11\. Sisterhood 

The Eridian temple sat empty, the only sound the bubbling water of the long forgotten fountain. Sloane never thought to question how the fountain continued to run, after all none of this was real, it was all a dream no matter how real it seemed. 

“Steele? L-Leda?” She called her voice echoing back to her. There was no answer. Sloane looked up at the sealed archway that towered over the courtyard she had always met the other women in. A flat stone sat embedded in the wall at the top of the arch, a strange symbol carved into it and set beneath that was a deep emerald gem. The symbol began to glow a deep blue as her eyes passed over it. The loud grinding of stone on stone filled the silent air of the temple as the great doors that had sat sealed all this time opened with a thud against the inner wall. The open hallway seemed to draw her towards it like a black hole, there was no escape and little she could do but stop fighting against it and let it take her into it. 

As she walked down the long forgotten hallway the silence was cut like a knife through butter by the sound of people talking amongst each other, children laughing, life that was normally so absent in this place. 

She walked out into the light of day, the courtyard she so often visited no longer worn and forgotten. The ever running fountain hosted a family of waterfowl the likes of which Sloane had never seen before, their feathers shimmered with an orange iridescence and in the middle of their duck billed heads sat a third eye. Strange as the creatures where they seemed to be no bother to people who bustled around her, merchants and their carts sat on the outer rim of the courtyard and children dangled coins and bread at the edge of the fountain. 

The people who stood out most to her though were a pair of women, one dressed in greens decorated with nature in a way that reminded Sloane of a far more elaborate version of her own ceremonial garb. The colors constructed nicely with the woman’s rust colored hair, though the outfit was not all that was familiar as both women were Sirens, and they both bore a familiar set of markings. The redhead had Sloane’s markings along with a more elaborate set on her face that matched Leda’s.

The other siren who had shocking purple eyes wore a dress of black and white that interconnected in elaborate patterns and shapes bore the markings of Tyreen though again the markings extended upwards across her face like Troy’s did. 

Sloane walked closer to them noting to herself that no one seemed to notice her, in fact she helped in surprise as a group of children walked _through_ her as if she were no more than the wind. 

“What’s next on the list Nyri?” The woman in green asked her companion. 

“Two pies, Eris specifically requested a lemon meringue.” 

“Of course she did, well you know how Eris gets without her pie.” Both women laughed a bit before they continued their walk through the market. Sloane tailed after still intrigued by the marketplace. The carts all had goods from planets she’d never heard of, she passed by exotic looking fruits and vegetables taking care not to lose sight of the two other sirens. 

Their shopping was interrupted by a tall, slender figure, it was not human in nature. Sloane recognized it as being similar to the Eridian guardians in her vault. However it did something she hadn’t seen them do ever, it _spoke._

“Lady Demeter, Lady Nyriad, your presence is required at the temple at once. I am here to escort you back on orders from Lady Pyrrha herself.” The not-quite guardian said in a voice distorted like it was coming over a com-link. 

Demeter sighed, it was full of annoyance. “And I suppose you’re here to take us back immediately? We can’t even bother with the pie?”

“I’m afraid Lady Pyrrha said it was urgent.”

“ _Of course she did._ Nyriad be sure to back me up when Eris’ wants to know who to blame for there being no pie.” The two women shared a glance and a smirk. “Alright then, take us back.” 

The three walked through the plaza, the crowd of people splitting in two before they’d even come to it. The passers by dipped their heads in reverence and uttered words Sloane could not make out as she did her best not lose the way. Walking through people was helpful in this case, even if it was strange since in any other dream where she found herself in the presence of sirens she was still bound to laws of reality. She only stopped when she saw where they were going. 

It was the temple she met Steele and Leda at. What she knew as an old crumbling moss covered temple was now shining and well kept. Eridian runes adorned the high walls, she recognized the one that flowed back in the ruins, the one that had brought her here. Grey stone was painted in a mural of siren markings, it was a wonder that Sloane could bring herself to look away from it. She caught Demeter and Nyriad as they gave a bow of thanks to the guardian across the plaza ready to enter the temple proper, but as Nyriad crossed the threshold Demeter stayed back. She looked directly at Sloane and for the first time since she’d arrive she felt _seen_. Demeter seemed to wait for her to draw closer before she turned back towards the doorway of the temple and followed her companion inside. 

The inside of the temple was beyond anything Sloane had seen. The high windows let natural light filter in and the halls were draped in tapestries of rich teal,purple, and gold. Great stained glass windows that eclipsed the ones in the twins cathedral displayed murals of the sirens using their powers to stop calamities. At the present moment a _song_ filled the halls and reverberated against her very core. She knew this song, she couldn’t place where she knew it from but the words came to her naturally like she was born knowing them. From the way the song echoed she could tell that Demeter and Nyriad were lending their voices to it as they walked. 

Two large stone doors swung open as they approached, the room within clearly the source of the other voices as the song swelled to an apex as the doors opened to their fullest. It seemed the temple had been built with acoustics in mind as the song now _rang_ through the temple. The doors closed behind the pair but she simply phased through them. 

The chamber was large, far larger than she thought could reasonably fit inside a building. There was a circular pit dig into the ground at its center, a small raised platform at which a person could stand. On the next level of the chamber was a ring of seats three on each side of the circle, above each sat a rune seemingly denoting whose seat was whoms. Four were occupied at the present moment and Nyriad and Demeter were headed to theirs. The last level sat on a high ledge, a staircase leading up to it; a vault entrance was the only thing one the highest level. It’s entry field was active, and shimmered rich purples. Sloane swore that for a split second she had seen something lean into the entry field from inside, something with too many eyes. 

One of the women, the one who sat dead center in the circle stood. She wore a dress that looked like flames licking skin, her hair a long coal black braid and bangs that framed her face in a way that perfectly complemented her fiery yellow eyes. 

“Right, now that _everyone_ is with us we can finally get started.” 

“Cut the crap Pyhrra, we were running errands. Perhaps if we left the temple pantry empty you would complain about that instead.” Demeter replied her head rested on the center of her hands as she leaned forward to snark. 

“Oh! Did you get the pies I asked for?” An overly excited voice joined the conversation. 

“No Eris, you have Pyrrha’s summons to thank for that.” 

“What’s more important, the sanctity of our duty or a few pies?” Pyrrha remarked. 

“Pies! Obviously.” Eris answered much to the other sirens' chagrin. 

“I will personally buy you a pie when this council meeting is over Eris.” That seemed to appease the eccentric siren who immediately quieted down. 

“As I was saying. We, the Sisterhood of Vanagard meet today, on the 12th day of the second lunar cycle to discuss matters of great importance. Great Weaver, are you listening?” 

Again something in the vault moved, a large triangular head leaned into the vault frame, four yellow eyes narrowed as they peered out. An answer was given, not verbally, not even in words. Even still Sloane felt it in her bones despite not being corporeal. 

“ _ALWAYS.”_

“So what was so important you had to call us all from our duties Pyrrha?” Another of the gathered sirens asked, this one clad in guardsman armor. 

“The Hive sent a message, they’ve asked us to come help deal with an upstart brood in an arm of the galaxy. I know our relationship with the Eridians has been _strained_ as of late, so I figured it would be best for us to discuss if we wanted to help.” 

The armoured woman leaned forward, her purple braided hair dangled over her shoulder when the motion. “A brood war? That’s for them to sort out. We left their care long enough ago that their problems shouldn’t be ours.” 

“Bellona makes a good point.” Demeter chimed in as she stood. “The Eridians left us to our own devices here. They have created us, given us life, but they have made it clear that they did not intend for our paths to be forever entwined. They ask for us to stop their own problems, but when have they ever lent a hand when we go to solve humanity’s problems?” 

A murmur of agreement rose from the others. Pyrrha however pursed her lips and turned to the woman seated directly next to her. “What say you, Artemis?”

“I agree with my sisters, perhaps it would be best to observe from afar. Eris can always throw a wrench in the opposing broods plans should it come to that. However, I suspect that it won’t. Hive Queen Ursa’lathen has ruled for long enough that I doubt one rowdy brood would truly be a hindrance to the night of her imperial army.” Artemis said her voice was calm and level even with the mounting tension in the room. 

The others who hadn’t spoken nodded in agreement. 

“Am I truly the only one who would wish to act directly in this? The Eridians raised us, do we not owe them our loyalty.” Pyhrra asked as she looked from one end of the room to the other. 

“We owe them _nothing._ ” Demeter shot back coldly. 

“Harsh words from the Aspect of life don’t you think, Demi? Perhaps your closeness with Hecate has tainted your views…”

“Where were the Eridians during the siren war then? If they care so much for us, truly, why did they let one of our sisters perish and the other be locked away _forever._ Tell me, dear sister.” The words came from behind clenched teeth, like if she were to relax they would spring forth and attack like a venomous snake. 

Cacophony descended as the six began to bicker and argue, their voices blended into one angry mass of accusations and bitterness. 

“ **Enough!** ” Bellona’s voice rose above the squabbling and she clicked an armored boot against the stone floor. “This is getting us nowhere. I suggest we disband this meeting, everyone go back to your duty. I think it can be agreed that the majority of us are not in favor of getting involved. However, should you personally wish to contribute Pyrrha you may go to help the hive queen. Dismissed.” 

The room emptied before there was time for further argument. Sloane felt the eyes of the thing in the vault upon her, despite the fact that clearly no one else could see her. She looked up and saw it peering at her it’s top set of eyes squinted as they focused on her. 

It spoke again, its voice like the chittering of a thousand cicadas. 

“On a stroll are we little one? Called by your forebearer? Yes, yes, of course you were. Back you must return though. Worry not little godling, you will make sense of it all in _time.”_ A spindly leg the thickness of the vault arch reached out from the yawning portal its pointed tip touched her forehead and the world around her dissolved away to a grey void. 

* * *

She almost fell out of the plush bed when she woke, in fact she was hanging off it. Her mind section on the floor and legs scrambled to find purchase and keep her from falling further onto the floor. Her hand went up to her forehead almost expecting here to be a cut or a mark from where the vault creature in her dream had touched her, but there was nothing. 

For once in her time with the twins Sloane was glad to find the bedroom empty. Tyreen had gone to her meetings for the day and wouldn’t be back until late afternoon. As long as Sloane visited the garden before nightfall to double check on the production of the new vegetables she had the day to herself. 

She opted to use this time to grab her sketchbook and draw a sketchy picture of the council room and the thing within the vault. It wasn’t perfect, far from it but she refused to let this event fade from her mind. Even scribbling the names _Demeter_ and _Nyriad_ into the margins of the sketchbook. The thing in the vaults message echoed in her head, _had_ she been called to that echo of the past by an ancient siren? Was that even a thing they could do? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo sorry this chapter took a minute to get out, classes started back up so while I'll try my best to keep my posting of a chapter a month I'm not sure if that will be sustainable until School break. We shall see


	12. Night Out

The smell of cologne and weed alerted Sloane to Troy’s presence before the door of the technical could even open. The priest who had opened the door and led her there in the first place bowed and offered her a hand as she stepped up to the technical,these vehicles, aside from Tyreen’s personal technical were _not_ designed with shorter people in mind. She thanked stars above that the ‘fancy’ clothing Iris had delivered to her room for this outing consisted of a mint green blouse and black slacks, she could only imagine making a fool of herself trying to get in and out of Troy’s technical in a skirt. 

The God-king gave a short chuckle as she clambered into the seat next to him before he took another drag of the blunt in his hand. He offered it to her as he coughed into the furred collar of his vest. 

Sloane took it looking at it rather quizzically, of course she knew Troy smoked, it was hard not to know. She however, had never seen the appeal, she’d _read_ a lot about getting stoned but never could bring herself to do it. 

“Go ahead, take a drag.” 

“I uh, I’ve never done this before.” She admitted sheepishly. 

“What? Really!? Not even to spice up that drab little shack in the woods.” 

She shook her head. 

“Alright, don’t worry I can teach you Slo, I’ve got _plenty_ of experience.” 

He mimed holding the joint and brought his fingers up to his lips and winked at her. She got the hint and took the joint to her lips. 

“That’s it, breathe in.” 

She did, the new taste and flash of heat as the smoke sucked into her mouth startled her but Troy held up a hand. 

“No no, hold it, you gotta let it get in your lungs.” 

After fighting the initial desire to spit out the smoke she held it in for as a few seconds longer than she thought she would manage before she doubled over herself coughing. 

“See, you did fine? First hits a bit rough yeah, but you’re over that hurdle now. Wasn’t so bad was it?” He placed the joint in the ashtray and offered her a water bottle which she drank from greedily. “Like all things, it just takes practice.” 

“Where are we going tonight? The Priest who fetched me didn’t mention anything in particular.” It was peculiar for her not to be briefed on where they were going and the fact that they were dressed down despite this being a date made her wonder what Troy had up his sleeve. 

“A place where the sun does not shine. You don’t have to worry about anything tonight, it’ll all stay between us.” 

“Oh poetic, but not what I asked.” She snorted as she took a cursory glance out the window. The cathedral was just a small speck on the horizon now and she realized this was the farthest she had been on Pandora. The Cathedrals' ever looming shadow over Temple town seemed so comforting compared to the harsh sunlight that shone over the barren desert. 

“We have a settlement in the western desert, it’s picked up the name Scrapburg. It's where the rest of the engineers live when they’re not on assignment at the cathedral or deployed at an outpost. A bunch of my people live there actually. It’s not like Temple town, or the Cathedral, you’ll see. I think you’ll like the place.” Troy explained and patted her knee before awkwardly letting his hand rest on her thigh. She let it stay there, the willing contact with him appreciated. 

The rest of the ride was mostly silent save for the sounds of the wheels as they bounced over the uneven surface of the desert. It wasn’t for lack of things to talk about, Sloane was buzzing with things she could say, but given this was a date she figured it better to save that for when they got to their destination. She had however kept her eyes on him for the rest of the drive not even noticing that they’d stopped until the door opened, their driver bowing to his gods before he spoke. 

“Meet you here at the arranged pick up time, my liege?” 

“That’s right, and don’t make us wait. You know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get through Cathedral gate at peak hours, even for us.” 

Troy hooked his arm around Sloane’s waist, he led her away from the technical and through the gate. It was then that she got her first good look at the city proper. It was different from Temple Town in every conceivable way, where Temple Town was ever changing and movable Scrapburg immediately gave off the aura of permanence. 

Instead of ramshackle buildings and tent camps,there were well built almost metropolitan buildings. They still had the typical Pandora flare but she had never expected something like this compared to the CoV capital. Solar panels were affixed to roofs and dust shields were installed on the balconies she could see. 

The streets were covered by colored tapestries which she presumed were also to keep the sandstorm from buffeting the people who traveled. There were no cars, only carts pulled by large Skags and the occasional Motorbike. A bell tolled in the distance and she watched as people on the street stopped, others coming out onto their balconies and the sound rang through the city. Troy however did not stop instead speeding up his stride. 

“Troy you’re gonna trip me, I can’t keep up!” Sloane protested. 

“I was hoping we could avoid the attention, guess I should have known better than to send word. Even if that word was explicit, I did not want to be bothered tonight.” She could hear his fangs pressing against each other as he finished speaking, his agitation palpable in the air. 

“Lord-Father Troy, how honored we are to be in your presence again.” A red cowled figure stepped out from the alley way, moving far too smoothly for a normal human. 

It was only once the man was standing in front of them that his strange movements made sense. In the place of legs the heavily robed figure had four insectoid robotic limbs; two facing the front, two facing back. His right hand was also replaced with a robotic prosthetic that looked more like sleek black bone than the hulking form that hung off Troy. 

“High Priest Deimos, I quite remember being very clear in our communication about tonight.” Troy glowered at the man. 

“Forgive me for the intrusion Lord-Father. I was hoping I could escort you and the Verdant Lady to your residence.” Deimos said his fingers nervously bounced off each other as he spoke. 

“We’re a bit busy for small talk.” 

“It’s a ten minute walk my God-King, I won’t be burdensome for long. You can’t deny it’s been a fair while since we’ve spoken face to face, judging mother keeps you away from us.” 

The more Sloane watched Deimos the more she realized he was more machine than man, a shift of his robe revealing a pump and tank system where his digestive system ought to be. She supposed that those who worshipped Troy would be more open to body modification but she couldn’t imagine casting away her organs for mechanical replacements.

“Fine.” 

Deimos reached for Sloane’s hand only for Troy to swat it away with his prosthetic. The force behind the swipe reminded her just how easily he could crush someone with a flick of his wrist, he didn’t even need a weapon. 

“And Sloane stays with _me_.” 

“My apologies Lord-Father. I did not mean any offense.” 

“Don’t get me wrong Deimos. I appreciate the hard work you all do, but Sloane and I are on a tight schedule. It was hard enough to convince Tyreen to let us have the night out.”

Troy and Deimos continued their back and forth of annoyance and platitudes as they walked Sloane tuned it out for the most part. She instead watched the street as they walked. She couldn’t recall ever seeing children in Temple Town but here she caught sight of more than one child being ushered to bow their heads like their parents before them as they walked past. 

The filtered sunlight gave their procession a more somber feeling, especially as smoke from freshly lit censers wafted into the street. A bell tolled as they approached the steps she assumed belonged to the city hall. Troy released his grip on her hand and took a step forward, obscuring her slightly. Her gaze moved to the crowd that gathered at the foot of the steps. 

She noted that those who had gathered seemed to be more calm and relaxed than the crowds that gathered to meet them in the great wandering city. That most of them seemed to have cybernetic parts which made sense, given Troy’s own disability it would make sense that his town would be made of people like him. 

So wrapped up in taking in the foreign city’s spectacle she almost didn’t notice the men had stopped walking before she felt the tug of Troy’s grasp as she walked out of range. 

“Uhh Pandora to Sloane, didn’t you hear me? We’re here.” Troy said an amused smirk pulled at the corner of his cheeks. 

She looked up at the skyscraper that climbed greedily for the heaves. “Wow, sure is big.” 

“Only the best for a god am I right?” 

She snorted and nudged his arm with his shoulder. “Oh definitely. Totally not letting anyone think you're compensating eh.” 

Troy turned red around the cheeks before he turned back to Deimos. “Well go on then you bucket of bolts get out here. And tell Phobos I’m expecting his report on my desk in the morning.” 

The priest tapped his mechanical legs against the asphalt nervously before nodding emphatically. “By your will be done.” The priest skittered away back the way he had come before Troy’s temper could flare. 

“ _Compensating_ , really Sloane? I could have any person in the CoV if I wanted, think I need to compensate to get that?” He was back to his jovial mood like someone had flipped a switch. 

“I’m just saying it’s a big tower is all.”

“I like the view. Now, you coming in or shall we spend the night looking at my big tower?” 

Sloane playfully rolled her eyes before she took his hand again. 

The inside of the building was fairly standard for CoV buildings, the inverted vault symbol hung over the reception desk between two graffitied eyes. On the far wall a copy of Troy’s stained glass window from the Cathedral bathed the lobby in warm tones. 

Troy did not acknowledge the receptionist simply strolling on by to the elevator. He placed his hand on a bioscanner located beneath the call button and a soft hum emitted from it before the ding of the lift's arrival cut through the otherwise silent lobby. The moment they stepped into the elevator and the doors clicked shut the atmosphere tangibly changed, Troy relaxing much the way he had been in the technical. 

“I’m sorry about all that, I just wanted to get you here without being mobbed by followers who would want to meet you and ask fifty questions a piece. Tonight’s about relaxing and that’s what it’ll be from this moment on.” He smiled one of his warm and genuine smiles, unlike the smirk he used when dealing with followers this one went up to his eyes and softened his features. Sloane had come to relish seeing it in her few months among the twins. 

They stepped out of the lift immediately into a fancy penthouse suite. Again it had all the design choices that made it read as Troy’s space, from the organized chaos to the books left turned over to hold their place. 

“Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tonight’s about you and I and nobody else so just tell me what you want.” He said hanging his vest over a chair as he went about the steps of removing his prothesthic. If they were going to have a cozy night in he needed to be comfortable. 

“Yeah I’m starving, I haven’t eaten since Juniper brought me lunch.” She agreed, they hadn’t been gone from the cathedral more than a few hours yet it felt like ages ago now. 

Troy turned to head into the kitchen when something caught Sloane’s eye. A black rectangular shaped box with a pair of controllers sat on top of it. 

“Is that a Flaystation?” She asked her head tilted like a curious puppy as she spied it. 

“Fuck yeah it is, we can play a game once we eat.” He reassured before he continued his quest to the kitchen. 

Sloane made herself at home like Troy had suggested and plopped herself down on the plush sofa in front of the television. She was slightly surprised when a helper droid came out of a hole in the wall much like the ones back at the Cathedral. It pushed her shoes back over by the front door after she took them and returned shortly with a folded blanket on its head offering it to her. 

She must have dozed off as the next thing she knew Troy was prodding her side. “Hey, hey! Dinner’s ready, sleepy head.” 

She blinked awake and saw him grinning far too widely as he looked down at her curled up on the sofa. The same kind of look he gave when he had something up his sleeve in their game of bunkers and badasses, a genuine Troy smile. 

Troy ran through his games library while they ate, pointing out the games he thought she would like. She was pleasantly surprised when he got it right, though they had spent months hanging out, doing their jobs, and sleeping in the same bed it had always felt like something they’d done out of obligation. When Troy had broken down the night of her coronation she had been caught off guard that she was so trusted and even now on an actual date with him it was only just clicking that he saw her for who she _really_ was. 

After a few hours of gaming, during which Sloane learned that Troy had taught himself to use a Flaystation controller with his feet which she found very impressive, the nature sire found herself yawning again. She leaned into Troy’s side, her head rested against the curve of his rib cage. 

“It’s been a good night.” She sighed a content smile on her face. 

“It has, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. I did too.” He paused and took a deep breath before his hand came up and caught her under the chin, he gently tilted her head up to look him in the face.

“So, you think we can uh, make it official then. I know we’re in a weird situation where like we’ve been doing stuff couples do but it’s just been professional. I’ve really come to care for you these past months Sloane, more than I have anyone else. I would be honored and humbled to call you my girlfriend.” 

Sloane’s face went red with blush as he spoke. “I would love to be your girlfriend Troy.” 

She stretched up to meet his lips though she only stayed for a moment. As she pulled away she blinked in surprise as a thought registered with her. 

“Holy fucking shit that was my first kiss.” 

“Wait really?! Well…. it won’t be your last.” 

She gave him a playful shove giggling as she did so. Her time away from Eden-4 had in general felt dreamlike and unreal if she thought about it too hard. Now however she found herself hoping that if truly was a dream that she would never wake up. 

“So what changes at home? Is there anything I need to avoid doing around other people or something?” 

Troy’s face steeled and his eyes darkened. There was an uncomfortably long pause between them before he spoke his voice had a hard edge, the kind that came with experience behind it and frightened her a bit. 

“Tyreen cannot know. Not yet. Keep your head down, act like nothing changed unless we’re in private. _I’ll_ handle it when the time comes.”


	13. Blood in the Sand

“Did you hear?” 

“They would’ve taken the whole settlement out if one of the Carnivore Cities hadn’t shown up…” 

The Cathedral halls were abuzz with gossip as Sloane stepped out of the private elevator on the way to a hastily called meeting. Before she could take another step one of her retinue of Handmaidens held a hand out to stop her advance. Another flagged down the nearest priest and signed to them where they needed to go. Sloane could appreciate that the Handmaidens vow of silence came in handy in situations like this where she otherwise would have to yell over the crowd. 

The priest on the other hand was fully prepared to do so. Sloane watched as they inhaled a deep breath. 

“Children of the vault, your Blessed Sister wishes to travel these halls. Please make way.” The words echoed over the commotion of the crowd high into the vaulted ceilings of the Cathedral. A moment passed before the crowd split, people moved to either side of the hall like a switch had been flipped. 

“Thank you, Priest. You may continue your duties.” Sloane said as her handmaidens motioned her to continue their journey through the halls. 

The buzz of gossip continued, albeit much quieter now that one of their gods walked among them. Sloane caught groups sneaking glances at her though quickly looking away before she could meet their glance, a few gave the CoV salute to her but most just lowered their voices and lowered their gaze. 

The large doors to antechamber of the meeting hall swung open as she approached. She looked about the chamber and noted that a few handmaids were sat on one of the benches against the wall. The designs on the masks designated them sister superiors. She surmised that this meant that she was running late, the other department heads already arrived and inside. 

Her handmaidens opened the door for her and she nodded in thanks as she stepped inside the meeting hall. 

The other department heads were in fact already there. Jaxon, Juniper, and Lydia stood by a water cooler chatting while Hephaestus and Mouthpiece did the same across the room. Tyreen and Troy sat at the table frowning at a laptop in front of them. 

“Sloane. Come.” Tyreen said not even looking up from the laptop. 

On her way past Juniper and the girls Sloane made note of their body language and they seemed relaxed so she assumed there was nothing to worry about. Nevertheless the hair on the back of neck was raised, perhaps her siren senses picking up on something she could not. 

She pulled up a seat to the right of Tyreen, the other department heads filed into their seats after her. 

“Has everyone seen the video?” 

Everyone nodded. The video in question being the Raiders attack on a CoV base. The CoV had been losing badly before the carnivore city Tartarus pulled up at the opportune moment and turned the tide of the battle. Sloane had not understood until she’d seen the video _why_ they were called carnivore cities until the giant steel mechanism slid out of the undercarriage and ‘swallowed’ the Raiders vehicles whole. 

“So you all understand what this means then right?” Tyreen asked. 

The group of department heads all collectively shook heads no, this was an unprecedented event. 

“It means,” Troy cut in “We’ll have to start fortifying our bases around the continent. This time we were lucky that Tartarus was nearby, otherwise that entire settlement would be gone. We have to protect what we have here, starting over somewhere else _isn’t_ an option.” 

Sloane shifted in her seat slightly, she had never been to a conflict assessment meeting before and was woefully under prepared for this side of the Twins public personas to come out. 

“What would you have us do then, your Majestys?” Lydia chimed in, with talk of fortification on the table it was apparent that engineering would have to get involved. 

“Halt production on the armoured T-7’s, we have enough vehicles in our armada at the moment. I want all engineers working on mobile turret units for deployment at every settlement we have here on Pandora.” Troy barked as he leaned forward, his over large prosthetic hand catching the edge of the table which strained under the push of his hydraulic powered grasp. 

“Shall we send orders to Scrapburg as well?” 

“Yes, I want a missive drafted and sent to Deimos by this afternoon.” 

Lydia and Hephaestus nodded and pulled out their E-devs. 

As Tyreen spoke Sloane felt Troy’s hand slip into her chair and wrap around the markings at her wrist. They had gotten good at discreetly siphoning energy in cases like this though the sting of the initial pull still caught her by surprise every time. He gave her a gentle pat when he was done, straightening back up like nothing had even happened. 

“Juniper, I want the marketing and media teams working on getting anti-raider propaganda out _ASAP_. Remind them why they feel safe under our watch. The God-Queen would _never_ let such tragedies befall her people.” Tyreen ordered as soon as Troy was done with his demands. 

Juniper nodded. “As you wish.” 

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to assigning priests to head out to the settlement to reassure the populace that they would be safe. The might of the twin gods would protect their flock forever more. 

“Sloane, Troy, we have to go meet with the clan leaders to do damage control. I have one more thing to take care of on my way to the garage but I expect both of you to be loaded in my technical by the time I’m done.” 

{ I will see to it Sloane gets there on time, my Queen} Agatha, Matron of the Handmaiden’s and Tyreen’s personal guard signed to the God-Queen. 

“If you’re gonna escort Sloane who's coming with me?” Tyreen asked a clear look of surprise on her face that she tried her best to hide, it was easily apparent this was something she hadn’t planned for. 

{Pallas will. You trust her to escort the blessed sister. She will serve you well.} 

Pallas inclined her head at the mention, the blue and white mask obscured ever so slightly by her hood. {It would be an honor God-Queen} 

“Yeah alright. Not sure what’s going on that I’m not privy to around here, but I trust your judgement Agatha if you think Sloane needs your protection for this I’ll take your word for it.” 

Tyreen shrugged as she looked to her twin who rose to his feet and joined her as they exited the meeting room without so much as a glance back at their subordinates. 

“We should be going too, Right?” Sloane questioned as she looked to the Matron Mother. 

Agatha shook her head. “We will make it in good time, Blessed One. First though there is business here.” 

Sloane blinked never having heard the Handmaid matron speak before, they only spoke in their cloister and Agatha was rarely ever there. 

Juniper turned to look at Lydia who was stood with her ear on the door listening to the footsteps in the hall it would seem. Lydia nodded as she stepped away from the door and was the first to speak. 

“I just want to start with I know how this looks, and you’re not in trouble nor are we planning treason.” 

That got a chuckle out of Sloane who hadn’t even considered that every important woman in the CoV gathering together around her like this could have been cause for alarm. She was after all a Siren and no matter how innocent she seemed she could turn to murder at the drop of a hat were it her life on the line. 

“We know what’s going on with you and Troy. That the two of you are moving on to something a little more official than before.” Juniper cut to the chase. 

“Troy rambles a lot when he’s hanging around the Engineering bay of the Cathedral. I mean we wouldn’t tell anyone of course but it turns out Juniper already knew, and Agatha was filled in this morning.” 

“It’s my job to know hun, and if I know it means _she_ doesn’t which is better for all of us of course. “ 

Lydia gave a nervous laugh and Sloane looked between Juniper and Lydia as the pieces fell into place. She blushed, they _knew_ granted it hadn’t been a slip on her part and she knew that Troy was not one to keep his mouth shut. The insinuation that she was in danger though, that pulled her out of the embarrassment and caught in her chest like someone had slipped a shard of ice between her ribs.

“Ok so you know Troy and I are seeing each other now is that a problem or something?” Sloane raised an eyebrow they had said she wasn’t in trouble but it sure seemed that they were here to look at her blossoming relationship under a microscope. 

“Not on our part. Lydia, do you want to tell her? You were the closest to the victim after all.” 

Lydia nodded. “I wasn’t always the second department head, Hephaestus was hired with his assistant, a man named Phillipe. When I joined the Children Phillipe became my mentor I learned most of what I know now from him. More importantly though, Phillipe and Troy were seeing each other. They were starting to get real serious too when Tyreen found out. She lost her mind about it, came storming into the Garage and grabbed him by the throat before having Agatha’s girls take him away in manacles.” 

Agatha shifted nervously at the mention of what her girls were complicit in. Even though no one here thought lesser of them they had all had to do things against their better judgement in the name of the Twins. 

“She executed him live during the morning sermon the next day. Said he’d stepped out of line. I became the new department head after that.” 

“And Troy’s never had a serious relationship since…Then you came along.” Juniper interjected. She ran a hand through her curls and sighed. “We don’t want the same thing happening to you, which to be fair we don’t know how Tyreen would take the news. You’re not like Phillipe, you're one of them.” 

“We‘re not even like ‘official’ yet. We’re just going on a few dates y’know. Are you sure this is something I should be worried about?” Sloane protested she felt a bit like a trapped animal she was still working through her feelings for Troy. While they were romantic in nature and she was willing to go on dates she had barely socialized with people. She barely knew what she was doing at all. 

“I don’t think Tyreen cares much how official you are. If she feels threatened she’ll put the dots together in an order she likes and then you might as well be together anyway.” 

“I appreciate you telling me this but isn’t it a bit late? I mean what do I do now I can’t just be like oh sorry Troy I’ve changed my mind the girls told me Tyreen might eat me?” Sloane asked a flash of fear ran through her mind like a cold river, she didn’t want Tyreen to be the enemy because as much as she had come to care for Troy the same could he said for the female twin as well. 

“No not at all. We just want you to be safe.” 

Sloane sat back for a moment to process this information she’d never had anyone but herself looking out for her back home. It was so strange to have them all care about her safety. 

“We should get going, Iris will be waiting for you and Agatha, so can make it to Tyreen’s technical in time . You’re welcome to talk to any of us about anything Sloane.We might be loyal to the twins but we’re also loyal to each other.”

A soft murmur of agreement rose from the gathered women and Agatha motioned for Sloane to follow, they slipped back into their roles for the outside world once more. 

She had a lot to think about, even so she couldn’t find herself afraid of Tyreen. Maybe the others had got it wrong, perhaps there was more to this story than any of them knew. Tyreen had only ever been friendly and accommodating but then again Troy had his hackles raised about Tyreen finding out too. 

The twins were hardly ordinary people, then again she wasn’t particularly ordinary either. Though she was far less cagey about who she was before they came into her life and the trials she had faced since powers manifested. Even with the months of living under their roof and sleeping in their beds she was no closer to truly knowing where they came from save for the vague statements they made of not being from any of places they had taken her and they most definitely were not of Pandora. 

She also knew that for a long time they were all they had and that perhaps it was this reliance on each other that led Tyreen to act in fear whenever it seemed her twin would need her no longer. Perhaps a fear that Troy would befriend people who did not like her and would try to take him away from her, effectively signing his death certificate without even knowing. There was only one way to get the answers to all this. Sloane would have to ask Tyreen directly, but now was neither the time or place so she set the idea aside for later. 

—-

So lost in her thoughts was she that Sloane had scarcely realized that they’d been through wardrobe and that she’d changed into her ceremonial outfit which was a dress draped in silk flowers of all types and a floral crown that she was always worried would topple from her head despite the amount of hair pins she could feel against her scalp. 

It was only when Agatha cleared her throat as she took a knee for Sloane to be boosted into the Technical that Sloane shook the mental fog and realized where they were. 

“Oh of course. Thank you Agatha.” She muttered as she was boosted into the car. Troy and Tyreen sat with an empty space in the middle that was saved for her. Neither twin looked up from their echo devices as she sat herself down. 

“Took you long enough.” Tyreen broke the silence though her gaze stayed fixed on the handheld computer. 

“I was having trouble getting into the dress. But it’s fine now. You know how quickly Iris works.” 

“Too small in the bust was it?” 

Sloane caught off guard by the blasé tone of her voice and the small seemingly knowing smirk on her lips. 

“We had that dress made before we had your exact measurements. I had Iris use mine and you can’t deny that you’re the more _gifted_ one in that area.” Tyreen snorted the edges of her lips curling into a grin as the snort morphed into a cackle. 

Sloane blushed and looked to Troy to come to her rescue but he too was giggling at his twins remark. She found that their laughter was infectious and she too laughed at the situation. 

“Hoo man! That was too good.” Tyreen sighed as she settled down. Her hand came up and brushed her bangs out of her face. 

This was the side of Twins people usually didn’t see, the side Sloane knew and relished the company of even when it came at the expense of her dignity. 

—-

“It’s been a minute since we’ve been to the Ranch.” Troy remarked as he looked out the technical window. “Let’s hope the order has been taking good care of it.” 

He was talking of course of the Ordo Agricola, a group of priests who had been absorbed into the Verdant Grove, her priests. Yet the twins had neglected to tell her what the Agricola protected only, that they were caretakers of the aforementioned ‘Ranch’ property. As such Sloane’s only contact with them in regards to running them so far was to insure they got their monthly shipments of supplies. 

“Place was our first base on Pandora. We outgrew it eventually but Ty and I use it as a retreat still. We’re meeting the clan leaders here cos they don’t much like having to come all the way to the Cathedral and sometimes the easiest thing to do is the path of least resistance.” Troy cracked the door of the technical open startling the priest who was about to do the same thing. 

The farmhouse and surrounding property was protected from the rolling dust storms by tall fortifications common in Pandoran architecture though they were notably newer than most of the ranch's buildings which were typical fair for a farm. Sloane recognized most of them from her childhood home farm on Eden-4. Those memories stung just a little bit, but they had been so long ago now, she had been a different person entirely. 

Sloane was just about to ask where they were going when an excited yell went up on the other side of the vehicle. 

“Jak-Knife my bro! Good to see you again.” Troy clapped the back of a masked bandit, dressed in gear splashed with bright neon colors. The two were clearly very happy to see each other. 

Clearly not as subtle as she thought she had been Sloane found her gaze locked with Troy’s and he waved her over. 

“Sloane c’mere I want you to meet my friend.” 

Sloane approached, she hadn’t had much experience with bandits save for the few shopkeepers she spoke to on her errands in Temple Town. Troy’s general disposition around this one though eased her mind. 

“Sloane, this is my good friend JK. They help us with the affairs of the locals that we might not be privy to and run security around the settlements. They don’t spend much time at the Cathedral which is why you've not crossed paths yet.” Troy explained. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you JK. That Troy speaks so highly of you I know you must have earned his respect.” 

JK nodded, she could not see their eyes behind the mismatched lens of their mask but she felt as if they were seeing her as something other than herself. 

A moment passed of the two of them just looking at each other before they turned to Troy and spoke in a whisper. 

_“Her verse in the song is not like yours. It is not like your sisters. Where did you find her?”_

Troy blanched slightly clearly not expecting the question. He leaned down to better obscure the both of them “I’ll tell you later, yeah. After the meeting.” 

He cleared his throat as he straightened back up. 

“Anyway, JK here will be making sure you’re understanding everything that’s happening with the Clan leaders.” 

“Oh my god, like hurry up you three we’re going to make fools of ourselves if we’re late!” Tyreen called from further up the road, impatiently waving a hand above her head. 

The walk from the cars to the ranch house was a grueling test all on its own. The heat of the Pandoran day swept over all who dared walk the desert. The twins had informed Sloane that there would be no use of a parasol for this walk as there often was when they had to cross large swathes of desert. The clan leaders would see as much as a sign of weakness and they had promised that once they were inside she could have as much water as she wanted. 

She cleared her mind and focused on the cacti scattered around the place. They could manage in such temperatures for their entire lives as could the bandits she was about to meet so what was her excuse? The heat melted away to a minor annoyance as they continued the trek. 

Outside the ranch house several banners were freshly stuck in the dirt. The arriving clan members had stuck theirs into the soil before they entered the house to mark attendance. Tyreen counted them one by one seemingly making a mental note before she nodded to herself and opened the farmhouse door. The rush of the air conditioning inside the house quickly broke the cactus trance Sloane found herself under as she realized in that moment just how hot she truly was. She lifted the canteen that had been attached to her belt buckle to her lips and drained its contents before she sighed in relief, even though she knew that tapping into her powers like that meant she was at no risk of heat stroke when the trance broke it always made her feel so tired. Perhaps because it was an ability she had not used much until her time on Pandora and even so she did it sparingly, as it took an immense amount of focus to pull off. 

Troy grabbed her hand abruptly, he pulled her in between himself and Tyreen. The door they approached had posted guards who looked them over before opening the door. Inside the room was simply the home's den, where one would expect couches to be instead sat a large wooden table ringed which was currently surrounded save for the head which was right where they were headed. 

The people gathered around the table looked like they could snap all three Sirens in half and walk away none the wiser. They probably _could_ and that was enough for Sloane to keep her eyes focused on the destination instead of letting them linger too long on any one of the clan leaders. Their tattoos and scars tell the story of lives carved from the roughness that Pandora gave its people, they were survivors. 

“Good afternoon Venerable leaders of the Clans. My brother and I come before you today in the wake of an attack on our way of life. We-“

“That’s one way to put it God-Queen. I thought your MO was to avoid the Raiders detection at all. What was that settlement doing to attract attention like that?” One of the clan leaders, a well built and tall woman asked leaning over the table. 

Tyreen’s eyes steel the way they always do when someone challenges her authority. “Moving ammunition. The same thing all of you do day in and day out. We _have_ been particularly careful especially given the attacked settlement was so close to raider territory.” 

“It won’t happen again. We’ve told Tartarus to stay in the area and we know the Raiders are afraid of the predator cities. Likewise we’re rolling out new defense turrets, your settlements will see them installed soon.” Troy cut in a scowl on his face as tapped his metal fingers against the tabletop. 

“You weren’t here for the Lance. You don’t know what they did. Sure you read about it in your fancy books before you set foot on Pandora but you were _here_. The Raiders were made of people who defected but they still _know_ the tactics they have no problem using our culture against us and you expect one lousy eating city to protect the greater population. You might want to get your eyes checked Troy you might be going blind.” 

Chaos fell upon the meeting as leaders began talking over each other arguing about what the best course of action was.Then metal fist met the wooden table and the resulting crunch brought order back to the meeting. 

“Enough! The next one of you to insult our intelligence gets their balls torn off and tossed out the window. So shut up or get up because I won’t repeat myself.” Golden fangs were bared, muscles tensed and ready to strike at the first sign of resistance. 

“We meant no offense, God-king. To you or the Mother. Surely you can see why we would be up in arms after this. Your track record for keeping settlements safe has been fine up until this attack..” 

A murmur of agreement rose from the crowd and the meeting began to disperse, however as one of the clan leaders walked around the back of the twins to go their guards snatched Sloane by the back of the neck like one holds a misbehaving Skag puppy. 

“You really doing this Diamondfist?” Tyreen hissed which earned her a hard stare from the rugged man who had earned the name Diamondfist from the studded brass knuckles that were now on full display. “Kay, your choice.” There was a flash as Tyreen lifted her left hand and Sloane felt the grasp on her harden. 

She looked down and saw the fingers around her neck had crystallized into Eridium and a sharp kick backwards sent the entire statue toppling over. She landed on the ground with a thud and pried the remaining fingers of her neck. She shivered as she flung the purple stone digits away from her, so perfectly preserved that even the fingernails were still present. 

“It’s rude you know to not introduce someone who's gonna sit there and listen to us spill our secrets. Didn’t even hear a peep outta her.” Diamondfist growled as he observed the remains of his guards. 

“My name is Sloane Idunna.Servant of the Twin Gods, who are you to lay such hands on me.” Sloane puffed up slightly in a bid to make herself look more intimidating despite the fact she was quivering in her boots. 

“Bray Diamondfist, leader of the Diamondfist clan. You know nothing of our way of life and your God-twin handlers have sheltered you from it don’t think we don’t know that you stay cloistered away behind their walls. When the God-twins came to Pandora they started in the dirt like us all. They earned the respect of the leaders you see gathered here, just because they vouch for you and see some use in you doesn’t mean we all do. Even now they had to bail you out of this.”

“I’m… Sorry?” She tilted her head not understanding what the big fuss was. 

“You should be. Words however, are hollow. You will meet me in the field outside the house and we will settle this the bandit way.” Bray stormed out of the house doors nearly flung off their hinges in his wake. 

Sloane looked at the twins in confusion but it was Jak-knife who stepped up. “You will have to fight him. He will not hold back, one of you will have to die.” 

“This is asinine let me handle it.”

“No Tyreen,” Troy placed his human hand on his sister's shoulder. “It has to be her. The others won’t accept her if she stands down. We knew this might happen, we had to do the same to earn their respect.” 

Tyreen grumbled to herself but she knew her twin was right all they could do was have faith in Sloane. 

The four of them walked out into the desert strip just outside the front door, where Bray was waiting. It felt like a scene from an old western, Sloane thought, all they needed was for a tumbleweed to slide in. 

With little ceremony the man charged forward and with a flick of her wrist, a motion so well practiced she did it without thought seeds scattered from her pocket onto the sandy ground. 

Vine erupted at her feet a moment later and latched onto the charging man. Her right hand lashed out and the vines responded in kind throwing Bray across the field. He kept coming though as she watched him pick himself off the ground and growl with renewed fury. 

He was closing the gap faster this time and her blood was roaring in her ears. In all the fights she’d picked on Eden-4 she’d had the high ground, she had calculated her attack before she made, there was no time for that here. She was a bit too slow to dodge taking a hit to mid section that knocked her off her feet given the size disparity between them she tumbled head over heels in the sand. Troy growled from the side lines Tyreen trying her best to hold her larger twin back. 

Sloane took stock of herself quickly and this time she threw herself, vines wrapping around her waist and tossing her skyward. Siren instinct took over as she got her bearings in the air and in a flash of green light her wings moth-like in appearance sprouted from her back and she turned in the air. 

“This was cute, but I'm done messing around.” She hissed between gritted teeth. Below her the vines doubled and twisted around Diamondfist’s limbs. She was aware of a prodding in the back of her mind, more like an itch than anything else, A new source of plant life calling out to her and it was _inside_ the clan leader. There was a wet tearing sound, a strangled yell, and a splash of blood as the leader of the Diamondfist clan was torn apart from the side by a thorny flowering vine unlike the ones that gripped at what remained of his limbs. The spores had just been there inside his lungs, exposure of some sort she supposed but this was interesting because she could feel them now in the people all around her. They had all been exposed, but to _what._

As the adrenaline rush died down she fluttered to the ground and clutched at her side which she was aware now ached something fierce as she drew breath, broken ribs if she had to guess. 

“Christ.” Troy breathed as he rushed to her “Good thing I was filming, plenty of content for the next let's flay.” 

She snorted only to regret the action as it caused the pain in her side to flare up once more. Without words he scooped her up with his prosthetic. 

“Get her back inside, We can get Allison air dropped to us faster than we can get back to the Cathedral.” Tyreen remarked. She bit her tongue lest she fall into a barrage of hounding the other siren for being so reckless and how that had made her feel.

It was a feeling Tyreen only experienced when Troy was injured, only there was something more behind it, she had found the nature sirens display of power beautiful and she wanted to shower her with praise between berating her for the carelessness. Now was not the time though there were more pressing matters to attend to. 

As she watched Troy carry Sloane back into the house and she reached for her echo phone to call Allison, only one thought roiled inside her head. Sloane was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen and she wanted to make Sloane hers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains the Appearance of Jak-Knife who belongs to [GodKingsAnnonited](https://godkingsanointed.tumblr.com/) on tumblr


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